The Price of Redemption
by PolarisAmane
Summary: It isn’t easy having an infamous party-girl for your girlfriend, especially when she’s seemingly incapable of being faithful. Soi Fon’s made turning a blind-eye an art form, and guilt is something Yoruichi just doesn't do.
1. Side Step

**Genre – Romance/Drama**

**Rating – M**

**Pairing – YoruichiXSoifon, others as well but too many to list.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Bleach, but if I did then you can bet that Orihime would find herself inexplicably mute.**

**A/N – Okay, so this is a re-write of the first chapter. When I first started this fic I was just getting back into writing and was, for lack of a better term, rusty. It showed, the first chapter was a structural and grammatical mess, it made little sense and the characterisation was a bit pants. The chapter let the fic down, so I decided to rectify the problem.**

**Those of you who read the original chapter might notice some slight differences. The changes are for the better, trust me. Those of you who are here for the first time, this is an AU fic and is also yuri. If ya don't like either then get the hell outta my shop!**

**

* * *

**

The Price of Redemption

Side Step

Sometimes Yoruichi wondered why she spent so much of her time at Soi's apartment. She didn't often have these thoughts. After all, Soi was here and Yoruichi always enjoyed spending time with Soi, she especially enjoyed alone time with Soi. Occasionally though, when Soi was preoccupied with some other menial task, and Yoruichi was left to her own devices she found her mind wandering. And then she would remember her own spacious and luxurious apartment with its modern decor and comfortable furniture.

She shifted slightly, a lump in the couch she was laying on prodding her in the back.

Soi's apartment was in direct contrast to her own; small and sparsely furnished, it was made up of three very small rooms and smelt suspiciously like mould on hot days. The couch she was lying on was arguable the only creature comfort in the place; old, worn and easily second-hand it groaned in protest whenever somebody sat on it. Situated near it was a low coffee table that wobbled constantly, the surface of it was scratched and stained and a chunk had been chewed out by a bored dog at some point. This was the only furniture that made up Soi's living room, no television, no other seats – nothing!

Her kitchen, such as it was, was situated within the corner of the living room, the appliances the only thing that gave any hint to it serving a separate function. It contained an old fridge that worked at half the power of a regular one, a microwave, a kettle and a sink with a constantly dripping tap. There wasn't even an oven – not that Soi would need one since she happily admitted she didn't have a clue how to cook and seemed to survive on instant meals.

The bedroom was much like the rest of the apartment, cramped and dingy. A mattress unceremoniously dumped on the floor served as Soi's bed, and a suitcase doubled itself as somewhere for Soi to keep her carefully folded clothes and as a bedside table. A small lamp and alarm clock situated on its closed lid gave testament to its duel prowess. And that was all that was in her bedroom, no comforts, no decoration – nothing except what was needed to live.

Yoruichi didn't even want to think of the bathroom.

She suppressed a groan and shuffled, trying to get comfy. Her legs were hooked over the arm rest of the couch, her feet dangling in the air. One arm lay across her stomach, the other flung carelessly above her head. She felt her eyes slide close as she counted the damp stains that were dotted across the badly painted ceiling.

"Oi! Don't go falling asleep."

"I wasn't," Yoruichi lied. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand.

Soi was kneeling on the ground before the wonky coffee table. Her laptop, easily the most expensive thing she owned, situated on it. She stared at the screen in determined concentration.

"How goes the assignment?" Yoruichi asked. Honestly, she didn't really care, but any conversation was better than silence.

"Badly," Soi replied tersely. Her fingers tapped away on the keys, her brow furrowed and her mouth set in a grimace. "I just can't get it to work."

"Take a break," Yoruichi suggested. She swung her legs round so that she was sitting properly on the couch and looked across to Soi.

"I don't have time."

"Hmm," Yoruichi shrugged and sat back, her head tilting so that she could stare at the ceiling. They were on the top floor of the building and the ceiling sloped to accommodate the shape of the roof. Yoruichi had to duck down at its lowest point. A skylight was situated in the very centre of the ceiling, though no light ever filtered through the grime that was layered over its surface.

"Urgh!" Soi cried out suddenly. "Why can't I get this to work?"

"Are you actually asking me for an answer?"

"No," Soi grumbled. "This is so stupid. I can't possibly have got it wrong... I know I worked it out perfectly." She continued mumbling to herself.

"Sooooooooooooi," Yoruichi whined. "I'm bored."

"I don't care," Soi replied refusing to look up from her work.

"You're boring."

Soi cast Yoruichi a withering look. "Thanks," She said dryly. "If I'm boring you then you know where the door is."

"I do indeed," Yoruichi agreed, though she stayed where she was. As boring as Soi was being right now, Yoruichi didn't want to go somewhere else. Harassing Soi was one of her favourite hobbies, and Yoruichi knew that if she played her cards right then she could convince Soi to take a lengthy break from her college work to enjoy some recreational time with her.

"Oh!" Soi's eyes widened and she seemed to perk up. She leant towards her laptop and began typing furiously.

"Take it you worked it out," Yoruichi guessed.

"Yeah, I messed up my dimensions and--"

Yoruichi cut her off with a loud mock-snore. Soi's head rose above the laptop and she glared at Yoruichi.

"Again, you know where the door is."

"I'm not bored," Yoruichi smiled. "I could go for a coffee though."

"Don't have any," Soi told her.

"Should have known," Yoruichi sighed. Soi never had any of the bare essentials; no coffee, no tea and until recently no milk. That had been something Yoruichi had rectified quite quickly, she could put up without some things but milk sure as hell wasn't one of them. Money always seemed to be an issue with Soi, which struck Yoruichi as somewhat odd given that Soi had a job and Yoruichi knew that her family, while nowhere near as wealthy as her own, were at least well off.

Yoruichi ruffled her hair and struggled to her feet, the extended stay on the couch had stiffened her muscles. She stretched and worked the kinks out before manoeuvring round the room to find her jacket. Upon finding it behind the couch (must have slipped off of the back) she set about rummaging in the pockets trying to find her cigarettes. If she couldn't have coffee then she'd settle for nicotine and tobacco.

Retrieving a cigarette from the packet she placed it to her lips. She gave her lighter a quick shake, flicking the flint a couple of times for luck.

"You are not smoking in here," Soi told her in a tone that brokered no argument.

Yoruichi deflated slightly. "I'll open the window. Actually, I'll smoke it out the window."

"It doesn't open far enough," Soi pointed out. "If you want to smoke you'll have to go outside."

"But its cold," Yoruichi complained.

"Not my problem," Soi said. "You're the addict, deal with it."

"You'll be sorry if I freeze to death," Yoruichi grabbed her jacket and pulled it on. "Or if I'm mugged or something."

Soi didn't say anything, merely waved Yoruichi off with a disinterested flick of her hand.

* * *

The street outside leaved lot to be desired as well; broken windows, spray paint on the walls and shuffling drunks were just a few of the glorious things that could be seen from the buildings doorway. It was a distinctly unpleasant neighbourhood and one that Yoruichi would have once avoided at all cost. Still, spending time here was a small price to pay to see Soi.

Yoruichi cinched her coat tighter around her as though it could provide her adequate warmth against the shockingly cold evening air. She gave her lighter a shake and set about trying to light her cigarette, her other hand retrieved her cell phone from her pocket. If she was going to be stuck outside she may as well have someone to take her mind off of the surrounding area and the cold.

She pressed the phone to her ear and held it there with her shoulder. For some ungodly reason her lighter wasn't working. She hummed to herself as she continued flicking the flint, listening to the muffled ring through her cell.

"What the hell do you want?" the answering voice on the other end asked.

"I love you too," Yoruichi said her voice muffled slightly by the cigarette she was balancing between her lips. "Soi won't let me smoke inside so I'm stuck outside."

"What a shame," The voice drawled. Shiba Kuukaku was not known for her sympathy. "If you go stand on the street corner you might be able to make some money."

"Funny," Yoruichi shook her lighter again. "So, what you up to?"

"Not much," Kuukaku replied. "Lazing about, smoking, stuff. You?"

"Freezing my ass off! Why the hell is it so cold?"

"Cold snap, didn't you watch the news?"

"Do I ever?"

Kuukaku laughed. "Suppose not. Though since yer round at the kid's I'd'a thought you'd be doing something more fun."

"She's got an assignment," Yoruichi explained, wondering herself why she wasn't doing something more fun. Surely the best way to spend a cold night was naked and sweaty together. "Damn. Why the hell won't my lighter work?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Kuukaku sounded generally mystified. "Anyway, since you're not doin' anythin' and I'm not doin' anythin', do ya want to do somethin'?"

Yoruichi gave up on lighting her cigarette. "Like what?"

"Well," Kuukaku started her voice serious. "I thought we'd partake in the culture festival and see a discussion on the social ramifications of censorship in contemporary art." She paused. "Or we could go drinking ya stupid fuck, like we always do!"

"Wow," Yoruichi breathed. "For a second there I actually believed you. See you at Ukitake's in half an hour?"

"Yeah sure," Kuukaku hung up without saying goodbye, which wasn't at all surprising. Manners were something that had passed her by.

Yoruichi shoved her phone back in her pocket and spat out her cigarette, not caring about the waste. She turned and went back inside the building. She'd invite Soi to come along too but knew that she wouldn't. Even if the younger girl hadn't been busy with an assignment she would refuse. She didn't care much for Kuukaku and would go out of her way to avoid the brash woman.

The feeling, Yoruichi ad noticed, was mutual.

Ukitake's was one of the most popular bars in the city. It was the thirteenth in a chain owned by Old man Yamamoto; The Gotei Thirteen. Each had a different theme and was managed by a business associate of the Old man; it was a way for him to keep tabs on his dealings.

Yoruichi's own family was affiliated with the Second bar, Yoruichi having at one point worked as the manager. She had enjoyed the work for a while, but ultimately had grown bored of it and found it constraining. Working there had given Old man Yamamoto too much power over her and she had opted to quit before she fell in too deep with the Gotei.

Power over her family was something she could abide; power over her personally though was something she could never stomach.

The Thirteenth bar was managed by Ukitake Jushiro, a quiet yet slightly eccentric man who had been in the employment of Yamamoto for several years now. If Yoruichi was to believe rumour than Ukitake's relationship with Old Man Yama was more like that of father and son than employer and employee. His bar was one of the more respectable ones with live music most nights and only sensible drinks served by proficient jovial tenders. Then it also sold candy which had Yoruichi more than mildly perplexed.

Yoruichi and Kuukaku generally preferred the Eleventh bar with its rowdier atmosphere and loud music, but it wasn't really the place to start drinking. Besides, they might be able to score a few free drinks at Ukitake's, after all; the assistant manager was Kuukaku's older brother.

"Second round," Kuukaku announced lifting the bottle to her lips and taking a long swig. She set the bottle back on the table and belched in a decidedly unfeminine move that Yoruichi was so used to now that she didn't even blink. Kuukaku squinted at her, a sneer curling her lips. "What's eating you? Hardly said a word all night."

"Nothing," Yoruichi mumbled in reply. She cast her eye around the bar, noting that almost all the people here tonight seemed to be couples. It made her feel oddly lonely. She shrugged the feeling off and grabbed her bottle of beer. "What's eating you? We've been here ten minutes and you're only on your second bottle." She countered, hoping to pre-empt Kuukaku from prying into her personal life.

"I was takin' it slow so I didn't embarrass ya!" Kuukaku leaned back in her chair and smirked. "Ya just in a mood cause the kid's holdin' out on ya."

Yoruichi frowned. "She's not holding out on me," She felt suddenly defensive of her and Soi's relationship. It had been a while since she'd last had sex, well a few day, but for them that was a while. She wondered if she'd done something, past her usual teasing, to offend Soi.

"Then why are ya peelin' the label off ya beer?"

"Huh?" Yoruichi looked down at the bottle clasped in her hand. She had been picking the label off of it as she talked, bit of rolled up paper littered the table top. "Keeps my hands busy."

"Sign of sexual frustration," Kuukaku informed her with a knowing nod.

"Since when were you a psychologist?" Yoruichi sneered slightly as she spoke, though she let go of the bottle and brushed the remnants of the label off of the table. "And I'm not sexually frustrated."

"But you are frustrated."

Yoruichi glared at her. "No, I'm not."

"Sure you are," Kuukaku had an air of superiority about her as she spoke. "Ya forget that I can read yer like a book, princess. Ya pissed off about somethin'."

"Anger is just one of the many useless emotions that I don't do. Anyway," eager to change the subject Yoruichi leaned her elbows on the table and smiled serenely at Kuukaku. "Enough about me. How are you?"

"Fine."

"And how's Kaien?"

"Urgh!" Kuukaku grimaced. She downed the contents of her bottle in a single gulp and slammed it back down on the table. "You heard then."

"Of course I did," Yoruichi answered. "He must be happy; bachelor of the year is quite the compliment."

"He's fuckin' unbearable!" Kuukaku declared. "He's framed the fuckin' article, has it on his wall. He even sent me a copy. He's going to be playin' here tonight. He'll be on full poser form. Prick."

Yoruichi sniggered into her hand. Kuukaku's words sounded harsh, but Yoruichi knew that her friend idolised her brother and that he was arguably the ost important person in her life.

"Yer lucky yer an only child," Kuukaku continued.

"Hardly," Yoruichi disagreed as she sipped at her beer. "I'd love to have an older brother, or even a younger brother. He could be the heir and then I could waste my days being lazy and not caring about the noble name of Shihouin."

"Ya do waste ya days bein' lazy!"

"Yes, but I wouldn't get the agro."

Kuukaku grunted in sympathy. "Pop been on yer back?"

Yoruichi sighed and nodded. The Shihouin Empire was an international multi-million dollar company and she was its sole heir. Her mother had died when she was young leaving Yoruichi to be raised by a string of nannies and various other servants, she had hardly ever seen her father growing up. To say that this had left them with a strained relationship would be an understatement. She had spent her later teen years drinking and partying, her wild abandonment dragging her family's name through the mud; or so the media would have her believe. Truthfully she doubted her father cared; he'd done little at the time to temper her and it was only in the last few years that he had made an active appearance in her life; ordering her to clean up the act.

That was how she had ended up managing one of the Gotei 13 bars. Now she had a position at the Japanese branch of her father's company doing absolutely nothing. She was expected to turn up to the office, meetings and anything else her assistant organized and act the dutiful heir. It was tiresome.

"He wants me to spend more time with the Kuchiki's," Yoruichi explained in a bored tone.

"Why?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "Guess he wants something from them"

"A son-in-law?"

Yoruichi choked on her drink. "Oh, now that's a heinous thought!"

"It's a good match when ya think about it," Kuukaku mused.

"No it's not!" Yoruichi rebutted loudly. "It's a terrible match! Even if we ignore the fact that we're both heirs to our respective families and that a marriage between us would merge the families, it's terrible." She shuddered. "Just imagining him naked makes my skin crawl."

"He's a good lookin' dude," Kuukaku pointed out. "And kinda girly lookin' too. That should appeal to you."

"Well it doesn't."

"Fair enough," Kuukaku conceded her smirk threatening to engulf her face. She was clearly enjoying Yoruichi's discomfort a little bit too much. "O'course, they might be meanin' that you hook up with Rukia."

Yoruichi's eye brightened at this suggestion. "Now that's something I can fully approve of!"

"You just love little skinny girls, huh?"

"There's nothing wrong with that," Yoruichi said.

"They got nothin' to grab hold of," Kuukaku said, her hands miming grabbing hold of someone in front of her.

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at this. "Yes, because Kisuke's the man of love handles."

"Fair point," Kuukaku tilted her head in acknowledgment. "But I more than make up for it, there's plenty o'me to hold on to."

A Slow grin made its way up Yoruichi's face and she opened her mouth to voice her thoughts.

"Ya dare call me fat, Shihouin and I'll fuckin' plant ya!" Kuukaku threatened pointing at Yoruichi with an empty bottle.

Yoruichi merely laughed and held her hands up in a placating manner. "I wouldn't dream of it," She said still grinning. "I was merely going to compliment your curvaceous body."

"Sure ya were."

Yoruichi laughed again. It didn't matter what the subject was, talking to Kuukaku was always easy and enjoyable. They had known each other for years now and were closer than most sisters. As a child, Yoruichi had often found herself dumped at the Shiba's. They were another rich and influential family, and one with close tie to her own, and the hope had been that Yoruichi spending time with another girl of similar age and status would have a calming effect on her. Of course they hadn't counted on the fact that Kuukaku was just as wild, if not more so, than Yoruichi. The Shiba family had placed all their hopes in their eldest son, Kaien, and to hell with their other children. Kuukaku had been left to her own devices and Yoruichi had been the perfect partner in crime.

Yoruichi stretched in her seat. "Come on," She said jerking her head towards the door. "I wanna smoke."

"Ya can smoke in here," Kuukaku protested.

Yoruichi ignored her protests and stood up. She lifted her jacket from its resting place on the back of her seat and donned it. "I also want some fresh air."

With a disgruntled sigh, Kuukaku stood up as well and pulled her coat on. She took a moment though to down the contents of the left over bottles on the table, never one to waste good beer or even piss-poor beer, and then followed Yoruichi out of the bar.

* * *

The night air was cold and bit into Yoruichi's skin, making her wish that she had worn a sensible coat. She walked at a slightly hurried pace in an attempt to keep warm towards the car park. There were few cars there; almost certainly they belonged to the employees of the Thirteenth bar. She recognised Kaien's and made a bee line for it. She sat on the bonnet and slid up it so taht she could lean against the windscreen.

Half a minute later, Kuukaku turned up.

"What took you so long?" Yoruichi questioned.

"Nothin'," Kuukaku rolled her eyes at Yoruichi's choice in seat, but didn't voice an opinion on it. She jumped onto the bonnet, stomping her feet against it and probably leaving a dent or two. She sat down roughly, the car rocking beneath her weight. "It's real fuckin' cold out here."

"It is indeed," Yoruichi agreed. She fished out her cigarettes and lit two, handing one to Kuukaku.

"Particular reason you felt the need to be out here?"

"Just felt like it."

They sat in silence, smoking their cigarettes. When Yoruichi finished hers she flicked it away and immediately lit up another.

"Alright!" Kuukaku pushed herself up and turned to Yoruichi. "Now I know that somethin' is up. You only chain smoke when summat is botherin; ya, so spill."

"Nothing's bothering me," Yoruichi replied.

"Bullshit!" Kuukaku exclaimed spitting out her cigarette.

Yoruichi sighed and rubbed her forehead with her thumb, a habit she'd had since she was a child. "I suppose Soi's bothering me a bit," she admitted.

Kuukaku snorted. "What's new? Way I see it, the kid's always pissing you off some way."

"That's not true," Yoruichi frowned.

_Was it? _She wondered. It wasn't actually that long since she and Soi had got back together, after six months apart. Six long, boring and lonely months. Yoruichi had been absolutely elated when she and Soi had reconciled. Although she wouldn't admit it out loud, she had missed the small Chinese girl.

"We've been getting on fine," Yoruichi said, and she decided that she meant it to. Admittedly there had been a few tense moments, but that was to be expected. They certainly hadn't been fighting or even arguing for that matter.

"No you haven't," Kuukaku contradicted with her usual sneer in place. "You two never got on and yer probably never will."

"Uh huh."

"And I'm gonna tell you why."

"Yes, please enlighten me," Yoruichi mumbled. She was fairly sure that Kuukaku was teasing her and she was willing to humour her. She was also a little bit curious as to what Kuukaku had to say, to see if it held any relevance.

"She's too good for ya!"

"Oh, thanks!" Yoruichi cried, turning her head in an apparent huff.

"Yer welcome. Now shut the hell up, I'm not done puttin' ya down yet," She was actually smiling, as though the verbal evisceration she was offering to her supposed best friend was fun.

A small part of Yoruichi wanted to smack her.

"This" Kuukaku continued, waving her hand around to emphasis her point. "Is the second time you's have made a go of it. Ya fucked up first time round and yer really messed the girl up. Don't interrupt me, ya know it's true. You cheated on her and not just the once, quite a few times. Hell, every other bastard week as I recall and she found out. She dumped yer ass."

Yoruichi brought her knees up and laid her arms across them, her chin resting on them. "When do we get to the part where you make me feel better?"

"I didn't realise yer were so depressed."

"I'm not."

"Then what ya complainin' about?" Kuukaku said. She lit up another cigarette before she continued her tirade. "Right, so, eventually she forgave ya. I don't know what yer said to her, but it must have been one hell of a performance. Anyway, it don't matter what you said. In the, however long yer were apart, she changed. No more wide-eyed innocence, no more actin' like yer puppy dog. Instead she's bitter, she's real fuckin' angry. You broke her."

Yoruichi took a moment to muse on Kuukaku's line of thought. Admittedly, Soi was a tad different to how she had been. She scowled an awful lot more, her smiles were a lot rarer and sometimes Yoruichi caught her with a far off expression on her face that she couldn't decipher. She didn't know about the anger though, Soi had always had one hell of a temper; she was just a lot quicker with it now.

Kuukaku took a long drag on her cigarette, exhaling the smoke through her nostrils as she sneered at Yoruichi. "Ya broke her," repeated with relish. "And now ya feel guilty."

It all felt a bit anti-climactic.

"Guilt?" Yoruichi said in a disbelieving voice, staring dagger sat Kuukaku. "That's your diagnosis, I feel guilty."

"Yup!"

"Fuck off."

Kuukaku threw her head back and cackled with unrestrained glee. "See!" she sounded even more pleased with herself. "Yer angry. I thought ya didn't do anger."

"I'm not angry," Yoruichi muttered, even though she was. "And I don't feel guilty."

OR did she? She wasn't sure, she'd never felt guilty for anything before. She had been feeling off lately, like something was nagging at the back of her mind. She'd just assumed that she had forgotten something.

"Sorry, your royal highness," Kuukaku offered a mock sympathetic look. "I'm the doctor, and I say that yer feelin' guilty. Treatment involves grovelling for forgiveness. Side effects include, but are not limited to: sore knees, wounded pride and probably the best sex of yer life."

Well the sex certainly appealed to Yoruichi, the rest, not so much. Besides, she wasn't going to go beg for Soi's forgiveness on something that the girl had clearly already forgiven her for.

"You're such an idiot," Yoruichi muttered. "I don't feel guilty. I never feel guilty. Life is too short for such a pointless emotion."

Kuukaku merely shrugged, her cigarette balanced on her lip. Silence fell between the pair again, Yoruichi was thankful for it; Kuukaku's oddball theories were amusing but annoying. The silence though let her mind wander, and it acknowledged something scratching at the back of her mind.

She sighed. Kuukaku raised her head and shot her a quizzical look.

"I've got a confession," Yoruichi started, her hand rubbing at the back of her neck.

"Yer cheating on her again," Kuukaku guessed. There was no accusation in her words or in her eyes, but Yoruichi thought that she could see disappointment reflected there. It seemed like such an odd emotion.

"No, I'm not. But well," She sighed again, the words feeling heavy and cumbersome on her tongue. "Once, but it didn't mean anything."

Kuukaku groaned and this time Yoruichi could definitely hear disappointment. "If it didn't mean anythin' then why'd ya do it?"

"Dunno," Yoruichi shrugged and then exhaled loudly, falling back onto the windscreen, her hands covering her face. "Fuck! I don't feel guilty, but more like I know that I should. Do you think I should tell her?"

"She'll leave yer if ya do," Kuukaku said. She climbed back up on the car and sat next to Yoruichi. "And ya'd deserve it too."

"I'm not going to tell her then," Yoruichi concluded. "I...It scares me that she might leave me again."

"Whoa!" Kuukaku sat up suddenly and stared at Yoruichi with wide disbelieving eyes. "Did I just hear that right? Ya almost sounded human." Her eyes narrowed. "Do you love her?"

"Huh?" Yoruichi bolted up.

"You heard. Do you love her?"

Did she? Yoruichi wasn't sure; she cared about Soi that was to be expected. She wouldn't have kept her around as long as she had if she didn't care about her, but love?

"I don't know..."

"Ah, than ya don't," Kuukaku said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"What the hell?" Yoruichi exclaimed feeling suddenly angry at her friend's lack of support and condescending tone. What right did Kuukaku have to judge her feelings? "Do you love Kisuke?" She fired back; two could play at this game.

"Unfortunately," Kuukaku lamented. "Which sucks, seein' as how he's in love with you."

"Oh," Yoruichi breathed deflating slightly, she'd had no idea. "Uh, I'm sorry."

"So ya fuckin' should be! You have any idea the amount of grief you've caused me?" Kuukaku sounded angry, but Yoruichi could see the smile that lit up her features. "Ya shouldn't have fucked him."

Yoruichi frowned at that. "I was fifteen," She said, wondering at how Kuukaku was implying that it was her fault. "How the hell was I supposed to know that he'd never get over me?"

Kuukaku shrugged and sighed. "This is one depressing night, Yoruichi," She said sliding down from the car. "I'm gonna head off home. If I leave Kisuke too long he'll start jerking off over a picture of you."

It was said as joke but Yoruichi winced regardless, and not just because of the mental image it evoked.

Kuukaku wandered off, waving back over her shoulder. "Ya take now, Shihouin," she yelled back. "Remember to go grovel at the kid's feet."

"Not a chance!" Yoruichi yelled back at her. She then sighed, not liking that Kuukaku had delivered her one too many home truths that she should probably consider. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialled the number for her personal driver, not wanting to spend another minute in the cold.

* * *

Soi's apartment was in darkness when Yoruichi made it back. She flicked the lights on and they stuttered into existence, bathing the room with their pathetic glow.

Yoruichi sighed, Soi really needed to invest in higher watt bulbs. She scanned the room and smiled, the object of her rather tumultuous thoughts was lying on the couch with a blanket draped over her. Quietly, Yoruichi made her way over to Soi's sleeping form and bent over her, she looked so peaceful. Brushing the hair from Soi's face, Yoruichi bent down to steal a quick kiss. Soi's eyes flickered open and she looked confused at first, a frown forming on her face; a second later it softened into a smile. One of her real smiles Yoruichi was pleased to see. Yoruichi kissed her again, longer this time, opening her mouth and slipping her tongue past Soi's lips.

Soi pulled back and pulled a face. "Did you chain smoke an entire pack of cigarettes or something?" She asked. "You taste awful."

"Not an entire pack," Yoruichi replied with a happy smile. "You love it really."

Soi sat up and stretched. Yoruichi moved round and took hold of Soi's hand pulling her up to her feet. She pulled her in close, her arm circling Soi's waist and she kissed her again, ignoring the girl's muffled protest. Breaking the kiss, Yoruichi took Soi's hand and led her from the living room and towards the bedroom with one thing on her mind. There would be plenty of time later to sort out her thoughts on their relationship. Right now she was going to enjoy what they had.

Guilt just wasn't something she felt, simple as that.

* * *

**Whew! And there's the re-write; much better, even if I do say so myself.**

**Hopefully you enjoyed it, and if this is your first time reading this fic, then you should feel happy that you didn't have to suffer the horror that was the original.**

**Thanks for your time and please leave a review ^^**


	2. Turn Your Head

The Price of Redemption

Groaning sleepily, Soi Fon rolled over and attempted to turn off her alarm clock succeeding only in knocking it over, which elicited another groan from her. She disentangled herself from the limbs that had snaked their way around her, and climbed to her feet and stretched. A snore told her that she hadn't woken Yoruichi - the woman could sleep through an earthquake. With a quick ruffle of her hair Soi set about picking up the various clothes that were strewn about the room. She tossed Yoruichi's onto the mattress and left them in a heap, her own she carefully folded and placed next to the suitcase/bedside table. She then set about her morning routine: Shower, dressed and onto breakfast.

Her fridge was depressingly empty, several bottles of milk, a browning apple and a couple of microwave meals, nothing for an appetizing breakfast. Sighing she grabbed a bottle of milk, popped the top and took a swig. She grimaced, it was full fat: thick and creamy, exactly what she didn't need first thing in the morning. Checking her watch she decided to forgo breakfast and head off to college, she could grab something to eat on the way.

The morning air was bitterly cold and seemed to have a bite, it didn't help that Soi didn't own a thick coat, or that Yoruichi had lost her scarf, but at least she had some decent gloves. Riding her bike on a cold morning was bad enough but having her hands frozen to the handlebars was tantamount to torture. Making sure her bag was closed Soi swung her leg over the bike and started off. The bike was second hand and rattled when she went too fast, but it got her from A to B which was the important thing. She hated public transport and walking just took too long to get to college.

Thankfully she only had the one morning lecture, on the history of St Paul's cathedral the turning point of architecture according to her lecturer. Architecture wasn't actually what she had wanted to study at college, but on the list of subjects her parents were willing to let her study it had seemed the most interesting. They had wanted her study languages, this way she would have been able to work within her father's company, but she didn't see the point in studying something she was naturally gifted at, she could learn foreign languages in her spare time. Besides, she didn't want to work for her father's company. She wanted to distance herself from her family as much as possible. She'd even refused their money in helping her with her studies determined to do this on her own, and not wanting them to have any kind of hold over her. Bad enough that they chose the subject she studied, but it would have been worse if they picked her individual modules. Of course refusing their money had opened up a whole new batch of problems, like not being able to afford groceries or her rent, both of which were problems now at the forefront of her mind.

She groaned, perhaps she could convince Kenpachi to give her an advance on her next pay check? Or perhaps she could convince a herd of pigs to take flight; she had the same chances on both. She stifled the groan this time and instead kicked a bin as she stalked past it.

"Bad day?"

Turning Soi saw Tatsuki heading towards her. "Bad morning," Soi replied. "I missed breakfast."

"Most important meal of the day."

"I know," Soi picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "What are you doing over this end of campus?" Tatsuki was studying sports science which was on the other side of campus.

"I came to see you actually. I wanted to ask a favour."

Soi started walking towards the bike shed and Tatsuki followed. "What?"

"Did you hear about that girl who was attacked on campus?"

Soi shook her head.

"Typical. Well a girl was attacked a few nights ago, and now their increasing security."

They reached the bike shed and Soi pulled her bike out roughly taking no mind of it scratching the other, newer, bikes in the shed. "Okay. What does this have to do with me?"

"Well, apart from increasing security they want to run a self-defense workshop for women."

"No," Soi told her.

"I haven't even asked you anything yet."

"But I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is: no."

Tatsuki stepped in front of her and blocked her path. "Why not?" she demanded. "It'll be one night a week, for a couple of hours teaching girls how to throw a punch. C'mon, I don't want to be stuck doing this on my own."

"Then you should have refused."

"I couldn't, the student president pretty much told us that the Dojo would close if we refused. Apparently the course needs at least two female instructors."

"Instructors?"

"Well their hardly going to call us sensei, are they?"

Soi made a disgusted noise. "I'm not doing it. It makes a mockery of martial arts. Besides, it'll more dangerous to have these girls thinking they can defend themselves. The best thing they can do in that situation is run away."

"Well we'll tell them that," Tatsuki grabbed hold of the bikes handlebars. "Please Soi? The course only lasts a month. We teach them how to punch, a couple of holds and how to run away screaming and the Dojo doesn't have to face closure."

Soi thought about it for all of a second. "No. Now get out of my way."

"Not until you agree to this."

"How much?"

"Huh?" Tatsuki looked perplexed.

"How much will I get paid?"

"Dunno. Depends how many show up."

Wrenching her bike form Tatsuki's grip Soi started walking off again. "Fine. I'll do it." Tatsuki walked after her. "But if I have to put up with screaming, whining bimbos who can't handle it then I'm out."

"Deal!" Tatsuki grinned. "Whew! I was worried for a second there."

"Whatever," Soi said. "I have to go, I'm already running late."

"Late for what?" Tatsuki asked.

"I'm meeting Yoruichi for lunch."

"Oh," Tatsuki's voice had that disapproving tone to it that she reserved for talking about Yoruichi. "Well, in that case I'm going to head off." She turned and walked away with a quick wave of her hand, and then she stopped. "You still struggling for money?"

"No," Soi lied.

Tatsuki nodded, clearly not believing her. "If I were you I'd extort the super-rich girlfriend." she gave another wave and jogged off.

Soi sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She never took money from Yoruichi, or gifts, or anything like that. Not anymore at any rate. She'd learnt from the first time round that giving Yoruichi that level of control over her was a very bad idea.

Kuukaku threw back her head and roared with laughter. "What the hell ya wearin'?"

Yoruichi pulled out the chair and sat down. "A suit funnily enough," she waved to Urahara who was sitting next to Kuukaku. He had his ridiculous bucket hat pulled down so far down she wasn't sure if he could see her, but he smiled all the same and nodded. "Congratulate me; I actually went to work this morning."

"Now that is something," Kuukaku grinned. "Bet you were late."

"Only by a few hours," Yoruichi looked round the café they were sitting in. Even though it was lunch time there was hardly anyone here. She shrugged and turned back to her friends. "I made it to the meeting which is the important thing."

"Fall asleep?"

"Dozed a little bit, but I picked up the minutes so I can catch up later," She looked over to Urahara. "And how are you?"

"I can't complain, Yoruichi-San," He replied in his usual lazy manner. He pushed his hat back with a long thin finger. "And you?"

She grinned at him. "Same old," the door to the café creaked as it opened and Yoruichi turned in her seat. Soi walked in, her bag slung over her shoulder and her usual scowl fixed to her face. Yoruichi waved her over.

Soi pulled out the final empty chair and looked at Yoruichi. "Are you due in court?"

"Funny," she replied. Kuukaku sniggered into her hand. "Why is everyone so surprised to see me in a suit?"

"I happen to think you look smart," Urahara told her with a smile tugging at his lips.

"Liar," Yoruichi said. "I went to work this morning." She explained to Soi.

"Seriously?" the Chinese girl asked. "You mean you actually got up, got dressed and actually went into the office and worked?"

Yoruichi paused. "Well I went to the office." She conceded. "Anyways, I'm hungry, where's the waitress?"

"You have to order at the counter," Urahara explained. "I'll go." He said quickly before Yoruichi could complain. "What does everyone want?" Yoruichi and Kuukaku both ordered the same causing them to grin at one another. "What you having Soi-Chan?" He asked.

"Nothing, I'm not hungry."

Urahara cocked his head to the side. "You sure?" she nodded without looking at him. "Okay then."

Kuukaku leaned forward over the table and stared right at Soi. "On a diet?"

"I'm just not hungry," Soi replied.

"Bullshit!"

Soi sighed in frustration. She really didn't want to be drawn into an argument with the infuriating Shiba woman. "What does it matter?"

Kuukaku opened her mouth to reply but Yoruichi cut her off. "Soi, where's your bike?" the dark skinned woman had turned around in her chair and was looking out the large window.

"I sold it."

"Huh?" Yoruichi spun round. "Why?"

"I needed the money."

"Can't have got much for the piece o'junk," Kuukaku noted with glee. "It was practically falling apart."

"I got enough," Soi said. "There's a shop round the back of campus that buys scrap."

Yoruichi frowned. "You should have told me you were short on cash,"

"Yeah, Yoruichi's got plenty to spare," Kuukaku grinned.

"I don't want her money," Soi shot back. "I'm not a charity. And I'm not borrowing it off of her, I don't know when, or if, I could pay it back."

Kuukaku snorted. "Who said anything about charity or lending? She could pay you for services rendered, if ya know what I mean!"

Yoruichi laughed and Soi felt her face go red which made her girlfriend laugh all the harder. "I think it sounds like a great idea," Yoruichi smirked at Soi.

"You would," Soi stood up. "I've got work to do."

"Come on, Soi," Yoruichi called. "Don't be like that. It was a joke."

"No it wasn't," Kuukaku yelled after the Chinese girl.

Soi walked out the café giving a wave of her hand as she left. Yoruichi turned to Kuukaku. "That was cruel."

"Fun though," Kuukaku replied still grinning. "Not my fault the kid doesn't have a sense of humour."

Urahara sat back down. "Where'd Soi-Chan go?"

"Yoruichi offended her," Kuukaku offered.

"You offended her," Yoruichi corrected.

"You know," Urahara said leaning back in his chair. "You don't have to convince her to take money off of you. Just give it to her."

Yoruichi cocked an eyebrow at him. "What makes you think she needs money?"

"Because she's a student, because she works a crappy bar job and because I know that you've been trying to give her money for a while now," He smiled again. "She's too proud to take it, right? Well why not just leave some around her place. Slip some in the back pocket of her jeans or something. This way she just-"

"Assumes that it's her own cash," Yoruichi finished slowly. "That's actually a good idea. Thanks Kisuke."

He nodded with a satisfied smirk.

Kuukaku rolled her eyes. "He's gonna be smug about this all night."

"Got to take your victories where you can."

"Victories?" Kuukaku rolled her eyes.

Yoruichi ignored them; another idea had started to form in her mind. It made sense the only problem was making Soi see the sense in it. "Guys I'm going to head off." She stood up.

"What about your food?" Urahara asked.

Yoruichi shrugged. "I'm sure Kuukaku will scarf it down. She's certainly got the room for it."

"You sayin' I'm fat, Shihouin?" Kuukaku demanded.

Yoruichi grinned and patted Kuukaku on the belly. "I'm saying you got a spare tire going on."

"Bitch!" Kuukaku swiped at Yoruichi

Cackling with glee, the Goddess dodged the clumsy blow and made a dash for the door. "Good job I avoided that," She called back. "There was a lot of weight behind it." She stuck her tongue out and exited the café, the angry yells of Kuukaku echoing behind her.

Unbelievably, her apartment was colder than it was outside. Soi dumped her bag on her grotty couch and shivered. She could actually see her breath! She headed over to the kitchen and turned on the hot water tap, the pipes groaned in protest and water sputtered out. Hesitantly she placed her hand under the juddering stream and quickly withdrew it the water was cold too. With a heavy sigh she turned off the tap. She'd bought some shopping on the way home, the need for food outweighing the need to pay her rent. She'd didn't have anything special though, more snacks and instant meals.

Despite not having much to eat all day she didn't actually feel hungry. Soi went to her bedroom, Yoruichi hadn't made the bed before she left but that wasn't anything new. Soi kicked open the case next to the mattress and pulled out a change of clothes: a more durable t-shirt (one she didn't really mind ruining) and some cargo pants. Rummaging round the room she found her elbow support and strapped it on, she'd wrenched it a few months back and didn't want to risk doing it more damage. Satisfied she grabbed her jacket, threw it on and began bouncing on the balls of her feet trying to get the blood pumping. There was a knock at the door, she jogged over and opened it hoping it wasn't her landlord.

"Yo," Yoruichi waved.

"Why didn't you use your key?" Soi asked.

"I was trying to be polite," the dark skinned woman replied. "Going out?"

"Just for a run."

"And by run you mean you're going to fling yourself from a building?"

Soi grinned. "I wouldn't say fling, but something to that effect yes."

Stepping in and closing the door behind her, Yoruichi quickly kissed Soi. "I have a question."

"No," Soi answered immediately.

"Funny," Yoruichi smirked. "Since you sold your bike how you planning on getting to college?"

Soi shrugged. "Walk I guess. It means I'll have to get up earlier but shouldn't be too much of a problem. Why?"

"I have a few suggestions. First, how about you move in with me? I live closer to campus so you won't have as far to walk, and you won't have to worry about rent which has to be a bonus."

"Not going to happen," Soi replied. It hadn't been the first time Yoruichi had suggested this and each time Soi had shot her down. The Goddess never looked too bothered by her girlfriends continued refusals though and they never discussed the subject past Soi's rejection.

"Thought as much. Second: I get my driver to take you."

"Uh," Soi looked at the older woman. She actually seemed to be serious about this. "No thanks. It's not his job to drive me around, and I'm pretty sure that if your father heard he'd be pretty pissed."

Yoruichi shrugged. "I figured that you'd say no to both those, just thought I'd ask."

"There another suggestion?"

"Yup," Yoruichi grinned. "And you're not allowed to refuse this one." She proudly held up a key attached to a key ring that Soi couldn't make out. "Surprise!"

Soi's heart fell. "What did you buy me?"

"Don't be like that."

"Please tell me it's not a car?"

"It's not a car," Yoruichi grinned. "Come on downstairs, I'm pretty sure you're going to love it."

Hesitantly Soi followed her girlfriend down the stairs and outside the building where she promptly froze in surprise, parked on the side was a scooter. She turned to Yoruichi. "A scooter?"

Yoruichi nodded. "I figured you couldn't afford to run a car, and I wasn't actually sure if you even had a license. What do you think?"

Soi walked around it. It was black and yellow, smaller than most she had seen but that would only work in her favour. She paused and crouched down. "Suzumebachi?" she ran her fingers across the silver letters that were plated across the rear.

"Kind of suit you."

Sighing, Soi stood up. "You know I can't accept this."

"Why not?"

"Because it's too much. I'll never be able to repay you."

"It's a gift," Yoruichi pointed out. "And before you get all pissy about that, no, I'm not buying favours off of you, I don't expect you to get me anything in return and I absolutely refuse to take it back. If you don't want it then sell it, but keep the money."

"Why are you doing this?" She looked at Yoruichi who had a slightly amused expression on her face.

"Honestly? I didn't want you walking to college on your own. What if something happened to you?"

"I can take care of myself."

"Humour me," Yoruichi stepped over to Soi and wrapped her arms about the younger girl's slim waist. "We'll count this as your Christmas present."

Soi's shoulder slumped. "And birthday," She leaned back into Yoruichi. "For like the next ten years."

Yoruichi chuckled and kissed Soi on the side of her head. "Ten years?"

"Optimistic?"

"No I like it," Yoruichi smiled and held Soi tighter. "So you accept this gift?"

"Yeah, but just this once."

"Swish!" Yoruichi dropped her arms from Soi. "Let's take it for a spin!"

It was just one gift, admittedly an expensive one, but it wouldn't really give Yoruichi any kind of hold over her. Soi dismissed these thoughts from her head. The older woman really did seem to be different than from the last time round. Maybe it would be alright for her to accept gifts very now and the and not have to worry about what consequences the Goddess's generosity would bring.

**Another chapter complete – go me! Don't ask why Soi's studying Architecture, when I was sitting round thinking of a subject it just kind of came to me. I'm sure there'll be a better explanation later. And yes, she was going Parkour jumping in case you were wondering, I figured it would be something she'd quite enjoy as a hobby. Also, I'm aware that not much happened in that chapter, actually it was pretty boring *hangs head in shame* unfortunately it was also needed. I am laying down the foundations, stuff was done here and said here that will crop up again. Also, if you bare with me there is smut in the next chapter. Yay smut! Now I have to go to work, I am already running late.**


	3. Fighting Stance

Fighting Stance

In all honesty the session hadn't been half as bad as Soi had been expecting. Of course there were the poser-girls who had only turned up to eyeball Renji (who'd been coerced into running the class) and had then giggled and squealed their way through it, then there were the shy girls who were generally afraid of being attacked and thus tried far too hard to learn the basic moves and inevitably failed, and finally there was that weird girl who joined every club going to compensate for her lack of a social life; Soi probably hated her the most.

Still the class was over now, and Soi was left on her own going through some basic motions. It had been a long time since she'd had the time and space to actually train. Putting up with mister receding-hairline and his few but persistently loud fan-girls was a small price to pay for an opportunity like this.

_Focus!_

Soi drew her left leg back and leaned on it, her right leg a step in front and lightly off the ground, her balance was something to be in awe of, her body didn't even so much as quiver. She let her arms rise in front of her, hands not clenched in fists but relaxed with her fingers braced, almost as if she was going to pluck something from the air. She stood poised, her eyes closed, her senses focused.

_Now!_

She snapped from her trance; eyes open, and quickly shifted her weight from her left leg to her right snapping her hands out in front of her at lightning speed, her fingers tips going to strike an unseen foe. Pivoting, she brought her foot up high and swung in a high arc, three hundred and sixty degrees she delivered three kicks; to the head, mid-section and thigh. A left forearm to block the attack, right hand to strike the pressure points and finally her powerful legs to finish off her stunned opponent.

_Behind!_

She spun, aiming a kick high and was only mildly surprised to have it blocked by strong arms. Soi blinked. "Tatsuki?"

The younger girl stood with both arms blocking Soi's kick. "Ow," Tatsuki said with a grin. "Good job I blocked, you'd have taken my head off."

"You should know better than to sneak up on someone training," She lowered her leg. "I thought I was alone."

Tatsuki shook her head. "I was just clearing up. If you want to stay and train then I'll leave the keys with you. Renji left already."

Soi nodded. "Did we make much?"

"Not really, I'll count it out and give you your share tomorrow." Tatsuki frowned suddenly. "You haven't seen Chizuru around have you?"

"No."

"Shit," Running a hand through her short unkempt locks, Tatsuki sighed in frustration. "She was here but went running off somewh-"

"Tatsuki-Kun!" A loud, and in Soi's opinion, obnoxious voice called out. Seconds later Chizuru ran in looking flushed and bright eyed. She threw her arms around Tatsuki and hugged the girl until her ribs creaked. To Tatsuki's credit she didn't throw the over exuberant red-head off. "Guess who I ran into?"

Soi turned from the pair and walked away, she wouldn't be able to train properly with Chizuru there but she could at least practice some basic stances. She could hear Tatsuki and Chizuru speaking behind her but ignored them. At least she tried to but Chizuru made it very difficult.

"Soi-Chan!" She bellowed with a knowing smirk. "Do you want to have a look at the magazine I just bought?"

"No," Soi replied through gritted teeth.

"Yes you do!" Soi just knew the red-head was bouncing towards her with the magazine in hand. She sighed in frustration and turned round. Sure enough, Chizuru was bounding towards her brandishing the magazine with a fierce look in her eyes. Of course she often had a fierce look in her eyes. Not that she'd ever ask, but Soi often wondered how Tatsuki managed to satisfy the over-sexed maniac. "Here!" Chizuru thrust the magazine into Soi's hands.

It appeared to be a gossip rag of some description, and Soi didn't like where this was going one bit. Tentatively she opened the magazine. Chizuru had kindly folded down a page which Soi unfolded. It wasn't anything she hadn't expected, a picture of Yoruichi sitting in a restaurant with Kuchiki Byakuya having dinner, both were dressed in fine clothes and both looked extremely uncomfortable. Not that many people could tell; Byakuya was his usual stiff self and Yoruichi was leaning in grinning like a person possessed. It was the grin that told Soi that her girlfriend was out of her comfort zone; sly smiles, smirks and a slow-easy grin were more her style. A grin that frankly threatened to engulf her face wasn't. There was a caption underneath but before Soi could read it Chizuru snatched the magazine off of her.

"Is it love?" She read in a loud voice adjusting her glasses, Tatsuki groaned behind her. "The self-proclaimed Shihouin goddess has had a string of eligible bachelors over the years, Shiba Kaien being one of the more recent conquests, but it looks as if she had finally met her match in Kuchiki-Sama. The pair have been spotted together on several occasions, the most recent being a date in the prestigious Gotei 13's First. With her twenty-fifth birthday fast approaching will the _gorgeous _Byakuya be the one to tame this wild cat?" Chizuru had, for some reason, a triumphant look plastered across her face.

"Chizuru-San?"

"Yeeeeees Soi-Chan?"

"Fuck off."

Tatsuki burst out laughing behind Chizuru who had gone slightly pink about the cheeks, of course that could have been her usual sex-flush, but Soi liked to think it was from anger.

"Actually," Tatsuki said. "I have a question. How come there are never any pictures of you in these magazines?"

Soi shrugged. "Perhaps I'm not worth photographing."

"Hmm," Tatsuki tapped her finger against her chin in thought. "And why do they always run stories about her with some guy? Everyone who knows her knows she doesn't swing that way."

"Oh there have been pictures!" Chizuru enthused. "Until Soi-Chan came along there were loads and loads of them, but it was always put down to her being drunk." She laughed. "There was always a picture of her falling out of a car."

Truthfully Yoruichi rarely fell at all; she certainly never fell drunkenly out of a car. Soi couldn't be bothered to explain to Chizuru that it was a game that Yoruichi played with Kuukaku, whoever got kicked out of the car lost, if there was a panty shot in the papers the next day then the loser had to pay for drinks on the next night out.

Eventually Chizuru grew bored and dragged Tatsuki away. It was late, but there was still time for Soi to get in an hour or more training. She hit the mats again and began going through some basic forms. After several minutes she became aware that she was being watched, she finished the set she was doing, rushing the last few moves, and turned to the door. Yoruichi stood there leaning against the wall, smiling.

"Kind of sloppy at the end weren't you?" She asked.

"I rushed it."

"I can see that," She pushed herself from the wall and walked over to the mats, removing her leather jacket as she went. She dumped it on the floor and bowed before stepping onto the mats. "Want to spar?"

"You're not really dressed for it," Soi replied. "How high can you lift your legs in those jeans?"

Yoruichi looked down; she was wearing skin tight jeans. "Not very," She answered truthfully. "Handicap in your favour. You'll need it."

Shaking her head Soi took up a fighting stance, Yoruichi did the same. Soi knew that Yoruichi was faster than her and physically stronger, but she didn't have half the training that Soi did. And, as Soi had already pointed out, she was restricted by her clothes.

Yoruichi struck high with her palm, Soi countered easily and moved in close knowing that striking was Yoruichi's best chance, if she closed the distance between them then she would have to rely on holds and throws, something that Yoruichi rarely did. Seeing what Soi was doing, Yoruichi jumped back quickly, smiling all the while. Her hands struck out quickly and Soi blocked the blows. They continued like this for a while, Yoruichi on the offensive and Soi blocking all her blows, until Soi noticed the opening she was looking for. She burst in low her body tilted, and caught Yoruichi practically on her back before flipping the taller woman over onto the mat. She twisted Yoruichi's arm into a basic lock and deftly applied enough pressure to make Yoruichi wince and tap out.

"I win," Soi let her go and offered her hand to her girlfriend.

"Humph," Yoruichi took her hand and let Soi pull her up. "Yeah, yeah. If it had been a real fight I'd have wiped the floor with you."

Soi raised an eyebrow. "I beg to differ."

"You rely too much on your forms, you're too rigid," Yoruichi told her. "In a real fight you have to be more flexible."

"Losers aren't allowed to lecture."

Yoruichi smirked. "Bring it on then, a proper fight."

"What? Last man standing you mean?"

Yoruichi shook her head. "One rule: submission."

Soi laughed. "Easy! I just made you give up before."

"By any means necessary," The goddess flashed that slow easy grin of hers. "You ready?"

Soi took up her stance again; she was smiling this time though. She couldn't help it, Yoruichi had handed her victory on a platter. The heiress was all about striking, she was useless when it came to holds, and even if she did manage to apply any kind of lock Soi would be able to break it easily. This was too easy.

_Why isn't she assuming any kind of stance?_

Yoruichi just stood there, her arms hanging loosely by her sides, with a smirk plastered up one side of her face. Soi frowned and stepped slowly around. Golden eyes watched her yet the goddess didn't make any move to alter her stance. She just stood there.

_What is she doing?_

Her relaxed demeanor was throwing Soi's concentration off. How did Yoruichi intend to defend herself while in such a relaxed pose? She couldn't even attack from that position. Soi had now circled right the way around her, Yoruichi was no longer smiling and her eyes were closed.

"What the- Umph!" The air rushed out of Soi's lungs as something hit her hard in the gut. It took her a moment to realize that it had been Yoruichi - the bitch had tackled her! They both went down to the mat, Soi landing hard on her back and the remaining air whooshing out of her in an undignified grunt. Instinct took over and she slammed her feet against the mat, using Yoruichi's own momentum to take them both over in a backward roll with Soi landing on top; straddling her opponent. The Chinese girl immediately went for a choke hold of some description, but felt something smack her, of all places, across the ass. She squeaked and jumped, losing her balance in the process and falling forward. She lay across Yoruichi, who locked her legs tight around the back of Soi's knees, pinning the smaller girl's legs. Yoruichi had her arm firmly placed round the small of Soi's back, her free hand scrunching into Soi's dark hair. Soi couldn't help it; she blushed.

"Give up?" Yoruichi asked, her voice low.

"No," Soi replied. She tried move but found that she was locked in tight. She grunted with the effort, her arms were practically free but in a bad position to be any use. There was also the problem that she was, in fact, very comfortable.

"You sure?"

Soi pushed hard against the mat, succeeding in lifting both her and Yoruichi for a moment.

Yoruichi laughed. "What if I do this?" She thrust her hips up. Soi's breath hitched and she tried very hard not to move. She was blushing again she could feel it; her whole face had gone bright red.

"We could just lie here all night?" Yoruichi suggested. "I'm quite comfortable." She tightened her grip and let her hips grind into Soi's, who stifled a moan as the heat left her face and vacated to lower regions. It didn't help that because of their height difference Soi wasn't even looking Yoruichi in the face but her chest. And, damn it, she just had to have gone and worn a low cut top that exposed far too much flesh.

_Stop it!_

Soi gritted her teeth and tried again to break the hold, but couldn't. Yoruichi laughed again.

"You may as well give up." Slowly, Yoruichi let her hand trail from the back of Soi's head to the base of her neck, her fingertips brushing lightly over the sensitive skin; Soi shivered at the touch. Yoruichi's nails dragged over the top notch of her spine before her fingers dipped lower and stroked her bare back underneath her Gi. "I'm being nice, you know?" she commented in a normal voice. "I could do something like this." She brought her legs up her knees nudging Soi in the rear, forcing Soi's body closer to hers and further up, they were face-to-face now. Once again she thrust her hips up, this time her pubic bone ground against Soi's crotch. Compliments of holding her breath Soi let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like: "Guh!"

"Alright," Soi gasped. "I give up."

"Oh, so soon," Yoruichi sounded disappointed. "I was having fun." She released her hold of Soi and took hold of her face bringing her down for a quick kiss. "You should go grab a shower. We're all heading over to Kenpachi's to celebrate."

Slowly Soi nodded and climbed to her feet her breathing slightly irregular, a not altogether uncomfortable warmth between her legs. She shuffled away towards the changing rooms before stopping just as she was about to walk out the door. She turned. "Celebrating?"

Yoruichi nodded. "Your college won some big basketball game," She explained. "Why do you think I'm here? We all came to watch it. Apparently one of your players is pretty damn good."

Soi frowned. "Hisagi?"

"That's him! Has a tattoo of 69 on his face, Kuukaku's been ripping the piss out of him for it."

"You saw the whole game?" She looked up at the clock. "It's not that late yet."

"I only watched the first quarter."

"Then how do you know we won?" Soi asked.

Yoruichi smiled. "Because the other side sucked, that's how."

Shrugging, Soi turned and made her way to the changing rooms, she could hear Yoruichi humming to herself behind her. A shower was definitely in order, a cold shower preferably.

/\/\/\

The changing rooms to the Dojo were fairly old and slightly run down. It served its purpose though; wooden benches ran along the walls with pegs above, and a cracked mirror was super-glued to the wall. There were several lockers as well but they were all broken so no one bothered to use them.

Soi placed the cloths from her braids on top of her now discarded and neatly folded Gi. She grabbed her towel and headed into the showers, communal, like the rest of the changing room; there was no privacy in this Dojo. Surprisingly, Soi didn't mind too much, there were few girls who used the Dojo so it was mostly just her and Tatsuki. She hung her towel up on a railing and tip-toed across the cold tile floor. Turning the faucet for the shower, she stepped back out of the way of the stream of water that spurted from the shower head. She knew from experience that it took a few minutes for the water to heat up. Testing the temperature first with her hand, Soi stepped under the water and worked her hands through her hair; it felt great to finally take her braids out, not that she disliked her braids but sometimes they were uncomfortable.

"Soi, you in here?" Yoruichi bellowed.

"Yeah," Soi replied. "I'm in the shower."

"Heh, it's like the dark ages in here. I bet they never decorated in here since it was first built."

"Probably not." Soi agreed.

"Communal showers," Yoruichi's head popped round the side of the shower room. "Nice!"

"Huh!" Soi jumped her hands instantly going to cover her breasts. "What the hell are you doing?" She demanded.

Yoruichi shrugged her face a picture of innocence. "Just exploring." She smirked. "I like the fact you covered your tits but left you're-"

"Shut up!"

Yoruichi cackled and wandered off. Soi let out a heavy sigh, it would probably be best for her to hurry up with her shower, when Yoruichi got bored she got ... _interesting _ideas. She strained her ears; she couldn't hear Yoruichi at all. What was she up to? Giving herself a quick shake Soi went back to her shower. She bent down and picked up the shampoo bottle that was by her foot, when she straightened her eyes widened; a pair of hands ran over her shoulders.

"Yo-Yoruichi?" She dropped the shampoo bottle.

"Hmm, who else?" Yoruichi said her voice low. "You sound so nervous..." She paused and moved closer, her lips brushing against the back of Soi's ear. "...My little bee."

Soi swallowed. "What are you doing?'

"What do you think," It wasn't a question. Yoruichi kissed Soi's bare shoulder; her hands slipped from the Chinese girl's shoulders and down her arms pulling her back into Yoruichi's very naked body. "You're so tense." The Goddess slipped her arms around Soi's waist, one hand resting on Soi's flat stomach and the other travelling further north.

"Someone might see us?" Soi protested blushing furiously.

Yoruichi chuckled, she cupped one of Soi's breasts and massaged it before pinching a nipple. "There's no one else here."

"But-"

Yoruichi brought her hand up to Soi's chin and gently tilted the younger girl's head back and covered her mouth with her own, cutting off any further protests from the Chinese girl. Soi couldn't help it; she leaned into the kiss, her mouth opening and allowing Yoruichi the entrance she clearly craved. And sure enough she felt the older woman's tongue slide past her lips. Several seconds passed with only the sound of the water raining down on their bodies and the soft moans that emitted from the pair. Yoruichi broke the kiss and Soi couldn't help but let a slight whine escape her lips. Smirking to herself, Yoruichi turned her girlfriend round and pushed her against the shower wall. She placed her hands on either side of Soi's head and leaned close, water running over head and down her bare back, she watched Soi, their eyes locked; she could see the hunger, the _need _in the smaller girl's steely grey eyes and Yoruichi couldn't have been more turned on by it.

With a smirk she ducked her head and kissed Soi again pressing her lips hard against Soi's, her tongue damn near forcing entrance into her mouth. Yoruichi ran a hand through Soi's wet hair; pushing it back from her face, her other hand roamed Soi's body – grazing her shoulder, caressing a breast, finally gripping her hip. The cocoa skinned goddess leaned in closer, pressing her body hard against Soi's savoring the feeling of the warm water that ran between them, her hand moved round to grip a buttock pulling the Chinese girl forward, Yoruichi's knee fell between Soi's legs thumping against the tiled wall causing the goddess to wince. Her eyes locked on Soi's again, their faces so close they were practically touching; their breath hot on each other's cheeks. Yoruichi lifted her leg, her thigh pressing against Soi's sex causing her to let out a surprised gasp. Soi gripped Yoruichi's shoulders her eyes screwed shut while the goddess braced herself with one hand against the wall, continuing to push her leg against Soi.

Opening her eyes, Soi gently stroked Yoruichi's cheek before pulling her in for a kiss; moving her lips slowly with the goddess's; her free hand trailed down outlining the curve of Yoruichi's body before she let it dip between Yoruichi's legs. She worked the heel of her hand into Yoruichi's snatch eliciting a low moan from the goddess, who's lips had worked their way from Soi's down to the stoic girl's neck. Soi' slipped her fingers into Yoruichi's wet folds, her fingertip tracing from her clit to her hole pushing her middle finger inside.

Yoruichi moaned her head dropping to the crook of Soi's neck, kissing the sensitive skin there before nipping it between her teeth. She thrust herself against Soi's hand, her own leg still pressing between Soi's legs; the Chinese girl now grinding herself along Yoruichi's toned thigh. They remained like that, their bodies writhing against one another slick with desire and the warm water that ran between them. They both moaned and gasped and whimpered each other's names and other insensible words; the meanings lost amid their passion.

"Yoruichi, I'm – oh!" Soi bit her lip hard and pressed her face into Yoruichi's shoulder.

"Tch," Yoruichi forced herself to move away from Soi who whined at the lost contact. "Hang on." Yoruichi breathed impatiently, she repositioned herself, kissing Soi and pressing her full body against Soi's. Her hand gripped Soi's hip hard, her fingers digging in painfully, with a grunt she lifted the smaller girl and pressed her against the tiled wall. Soi's legs automatically settled round Yoruichi's waist, her ankles locking. Yoruichi nuzzled her face in Soi's neck and took a few quick deep breaths and hopefully the time to steady herself, but she could feel the trembling impatience of Soi's body. Yoruichi shifted her feet slightly, her hand leaving Soi's hip to grip a buttock, her other still had a vice grip on Soi's slim hip; she'd leave bruises there she knew. Despite Soi's impatience, or perhaps because of it, Yoruichi started slow her hips lazily rolling into Soi's who whimpered and let her head fall back against the wall. Yoruichi took the opportunity to plant kisses along Soi's neck, sucking on the soft skin that was stretched over her windpipe.

Soi's body jerked and she shuddered. "Yo-Yoruichi," she moaned.

Nodding the goddess increased her efforts, her pubic bone once again grinding against Soi's sex increasing both the volume and desperation of the smaller girl's moans. Yoruichi was breathing heavy from the exertion, her calves ached from the effort of supporting them both but that wasn't half as uncomfortable as a the throbbing heat pooling between her legs. This position might be good for Soi but all it was causing Yoruichi was frustration and possibly a slipped disk. She grunted again with the effort and felt Soi tense her small fingers digging painfully into Yoruichi's shoulders; nails breaking through skin and drawing the barest amounts of blood. Yoruichi's name trailed on every exhalation and moan that Soi emitted and finally she shuddered and tensed, a choked cry tumbling from Soi's lips.

Yoruichi slowed to a stop holding Soi tight to her, she could feel her trembling, her breath thick and heavy. She leaned forward not really caring if she crushed Soi against the wall; she didn't want to put her down yet but couldn't support her weight anymore either.

Soi took a long shaky breath and lifted her head to look at Yoruichi who was breathing hard and had her face buried in Soi's shoulder. "Yoruichi," Soi whispered her voice low and husky.

"Hmm?"

"You can put me down now."

"Hmm," Slowly Yoruichi lowered Soi down. Soi could feel the quivering of Yoruichi's arms as she did so. Soi stood up on her tip toes and kissed Yoruichi gently on the lips, her hands travelling up the dark skinned woman's arms; her thumbs brushing over her biceps. Despite the exertion, Soi could feel Yoruichi smiling against her lips clearly pleased with herself. The pleasant ache remained, but the heat was fast dissipating from between Soi's legs as was the-

"Shit" they both screamed leaping back from the suddenly ice cold water. They both stared at the shower.

Yoruichi laughed. "Fuck! Did we use all the hot water?" She laughed again. "How fucking long were we here?"

Soi shrugged, her arms snaking around herself. "We should go."

Grinning, Yoruichi turned to her girlfriend. "You're just trying to get out returning the favour."

"Uh-huh, that's it," Soi smiled. "I'll make it up to you later."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, yeah," Soi turned and headed out from the shower. Yoruichi bounded up behind her and threw her arms around her shoulders kissing her neck. Soi blushed slightly; she wasn't sure she'd be able to use these changing rooms again without blushing.

* * *

**Good Gods that was a long chapter! And it was really difficult to write, I'm freaking exhausted! Man, I'd forgotten how hard smut can be to write, hopefully it's okay (please let it be okay, pleeeeeeeeeeeease!) **

**Thanks guys for all the reviews and general support (you guys rock!), I do mean to reply individually to all your reviews but I'm so damned lazy that I never get round to doing it. I'm going to make a big effort this time since it's just plain ignorant of me not to. Thanks again guys, hope you enjoy the latest chapter and please leave a review on your way out ^^ **


	4. Trashed

Trashed

The ride form the college to the Eleventh bar was not exactly a comfortable one. The discomfort certainly couldn't be blamed on the car, the driver nor on Yoruichi herself. For some reason Soi hated travelling in Yoruichi's chauffer driven car. Yoruichi wasn't sure if it was because Soi just didn't like to be chauffeured or if it was the fact that it was Yoruichi's personal driver that was driving them, but the girl spent the entire journey sitting as stiff as a rod and emanating an aura of potent doom. Since Soi hadn't been in a talkative mood (nothing new there) Yoruichi had spent the entire journey talking to her driver, Komamura, a man with entirely too much facial hair. Not that he was any good for conversation, since he was an employee he had a really bad habit of simply agreeing with absolutely everything she said.

And so, after an uncomfortable journey, Yoruichi and Soi finally made it to the Eleventh bar. It wasn't late, but there was already something resembling a queue starting to form. They both walked right past the mess of people and stopped to wave to the doorman, Madarame Ikkaku.

"Hoi, Yoruichi-San," He mock saluted her with his wooden practice sword. "And Soi-Chan too, must be my lucky day to have you both here."

"Shut-up, Ikkaku," Soi stalked past him and into the bar.

Ikkaku smiled. "She's in a good mood."

"Oh the best mood," Yoruichi agreed with a grin. "Seems to be busy tonight."

"Nah, not really," He leant forward onto the wooden sword. "Kenpachi-taichou wants the riff-raff kept out."

"The riff-raff pays his bills."

"Yeah but Kuukaku-San is inside and she more than makes up for any lost revenue from these light weights," he jerked his thumb over to the gaggle of what passed for a line these days. They were mostly students, none of them would be big drinkers, and were mostly here for the chance to show off. The Eleventh bar had a slightly violent reputation and always attracted those who thought they were hard.

Yoruichi laughed. "Kuukaku's already here, Kisuke too?"

"Yeah, you're whole crowd's here. Seem to be celebrating something or other, some sort of sport or something," He scratched idly at his nose a look of complete disinterest on his face. "Heh, would you believe that Tousen showed up? Even after the beating Kenpachi gave him."

Yoruichi frowned. "Why would he have been here?"

"Who knows," Ikkaku yawned. "Sure is boring tonight though, I could do with some idle amusement." He eyed the students. "Look at them, makes you sick doesn't it. Not one of them could give me a decent fight."

"I'm pretty sure the point of a doorman is quell the violence not start it," Yoruichi smiled, she gave Ikkaku a patronising pat on his bald head, ignored his growl of protest and sauntered into the bar.

The Eleventh bar was different from the other bars that made up the Gotei Thirteen for two reasons, firstly the manager's link to old man Yama wasn't through any kind of nefarious business arrangement, and secondly it looked like a dump. None of the furniture matched, not a single chair or stool in the entire place could be paired with another; and the heavy tables were scratched and worn, bolted to the floor to stop idiots throwing them around the joint. Mesh covered the windows, and ripped posters adorned the walls; the pool table had had its felt poorly replaced so many times now that it could only be described as hilly.

Run down was the term that usually described the Eleventh bar, but then if you took a second closer look you'd notice that most of it was intentional. The chairs didn't match because it was expensive and pointless to replace them with matching sets, it added a quaint charm to the place, the tables were deliberately worn down (the scratches were probably real) because a shiny top-side meant drinks were spilled more often. As for the pool table, no one here played pool anyways so it was really just an extra table, or seat or place to throw someone over.

The Eleventh bar was designed to look like a rough house, but this was all a ploy, to lull the idiot masses who let their mouths run away with them into a false sense of security. Those who drank here had to be able to back up their fighting words with their fists. All the staff here didn't just know how to defend themselves, they knew how to fight; and most of them enjoyed it. It was probably why Soi enjoyed working here so much, she would deny it if asked; but the girl got an unhealthy high from smacking idiots upside their face.

Yoruichi scanned the bar; her 'crowd' as Ikkaku had so cutely termed them were sat around a low table on a worn leather couch. Kuukaku was clearly well into her stride; several empty beer bottles were on the table in front of her, Kisuke had a glass of something or other in hand and was sipping it tentatively. Across from them, on an equally worn couch, Yoruichi recognised the back of Abarai Renji's head which could only mean that Rukia was here as well. And finally sat on the end was the star of the night, Hisagi Shuuhei.

Yoruichi couldn't help but smirk a little; the boy was flushed with his victory (and probably alcohol) and had a goofy look on his face that all men seemed to get when the object of their ardent desires paid the slightest amount of attention to them. Her arms wrapped firmly around Hisagi's neck and pressing him comfortably into her large bosom stood Matsumoto Rangiku, clearly oblivious to the effect her 'hug' was having on the poor boy. Yoruichi was pretty sure he was going to start drooling soon.

_But if she's here..._

Yoruichi's eyes scanned the bar once more and sure enough she found what she was searching for; leaning nonchalantly against the bar, his arms crossed in front of him and smiling stood Ichimaru Gin. Where you found Rangiku you generally found her other half, keeping an ever watchful eye on her.

Yoruichi couldn't help but grimace slightly, it wasn't that she disliked Ichimaru; he was pleasant enough if slightly creepy; he just rubbed her the wrong way. She wasn't the only one, Kisuke couldn't stand him; and that in of itself was saying something. Generally Kisuke liked everybody. Yoruichi went over to her friends and gave a half-hearted wave.

"Yo," She looked down, sat next to Kuukaku was a small pink haired girl. "You're in my seat Yachiru-Chan."

The girl looked up. "It's my seat, I called it!"

"Move brat!" Kuukaku shoved the girl off the couch and onto the floor where she gave an indignant squeak. "This seat's reserved for her highness."

Yoruichi sat down on the now vacant space. "Thanks."

"That was my seat!" Yachiru stood up her little fists clenched tightly. "I'll tell Ken-Chan and then you'll be banned from here."

"Like hell I will!" Kuukaku sneered. "You're precious Ken-Chan needs me, I'm his best customer. 'Sides, shouldn't you be in bed? It's well past yer bedtime, so fuck off."

Yachiru stuck out her tongue and stomped away. Kisuke laughed softly and took a sip of his drink. "You do have a way with children."

"I can't stand that little shit, Zaraki lets her get away with too much."

Kisuke shrugged. "I don't know it's nice that she doesn't feel out of place amongst adults." He placed his drink carefully on the table. "These days so many kids are afraid to talk to older people, it's great that she's not shy."

"Careful Kuukaku," Yoruichi said with a smile. "He's going to replace your birth control with candy."

Kuukaku's eyes widened slightly. "If I get pregnant Kisuke, you are gonna be in a world of hurt."

"Heh, warning noted," He pushed his hat back with a long finger. "So Yoruichi-San, you took your time getting here."

Yoruichi shrugged. "Soi was training I didn't want to drag her away from it."

Kisuke and Kuukaku exchanged disbelieving looks. "Training? Is that what they call it these days?"

"I'm not saying anything," Yoruichi smirked. "Actually, where is Soi?"

Kuukaku pointed towards the bar, Yoruichi followed the direction of her finger and sure enough Soi was standing at the bar leaning over talking to the barman, actually she seemed to be yelling at him, and he was yelling back; Yoruichi couldn't hear what they were saying though over the din of the other customers and music. The usually elegant features of Ayasegawa Yumichika were screwed up with fury and he was going slightly red in the face; not a beautiful look at all.

"She seems to be having fun," Yoruichi said raising an eyebrow.

"She has anger management issues," Kuukaku replied. "Bet the veins poppin' in her forehead."

"A vein does not pop in her head."

"Sure it does," Kuukaku said with malicious glee. "When she gets that constipated look; like this." Kuukaku screwed up her face into a scowl.

"What the hell is that look for?" Said a familier and unamused voice. Yoruichi looked up; Soi was standing right next to her holding two bottles of beer. "Are you not getting enough fibre in your diet, Shiba?"

"Fuck you, Fon!"

Soi set the two bottles down on the table with a dull thunk and sat down next to Yoruichi, there wasn't much room on the small couch so they were all fairly squashed. Not that Yoruichi minded though, it was an excuse to keep Soi in close quarters.

Yoruichi turned to her scowling girlfriend. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Soi replied the scowl fading and a smile tugging at her lips.

Yoruichi leaned in and brushed her lips against Soi's, she so very rarely got to do this in public that she felt she had to take advantage of Soi's good mood. She was about to lean in and deepen the kiss when she was interrupted by a very pleased noise across from them. Turning she looked, Renji was leaning forwards his arms resting on his knees with a dreamy look plastered on his face.

"Heh," He smiled slyly. "Don't stop on my account."

"Renji!" Rukia smacked him in the arm.

Yoruichi frowned annoyed at the interruption, Soi leaned back from her slightly and picked up her beer taking a sip, Yoruichi didn't need to look at her to know that the girl was probably blushing.

"What?" Renji cried in defence.

"You shouldn't be perving on them, is what!" Rukia yelled.

"Oh come on!" He flumped back in his seat. "How could I not perv? This is every mans fantasy, the beautiful princess and the d-"

"Finish that sentence Abarai and I'll shove this bottle so far up your ass it'll be tickling your tonsils!" Soi snapped.

Renji's eyes widened in shock and he sank back into the couch, Rukia hid a smile behind her hand and sniggered under her breath. Casting a glance at the small girl, Renji looked slightly offended.

"Don't worry, freeloader-San," Kisuke said gleefully. "It'll only hurt at first, then you'll love it!"

"Only if it goes neck up first," Kuukaku grinned wickedly. "If she holds it by the neck and shoves the butt up, then it'll be a squeeze."

"So butt-to-butt!" Kisuke cried out jovially. "Oh you are a lucky man, Freeloader-San."

"Shut up!" Renji roared. "Stop calling me freeloader-San, I work now." He crossed his arms and pouted. "And why the hell would I love it?"

Kisuke fanned himself with his hand. "Because _I_ did."

"Oh geez!" Yoruichi covered her face with her hands.

"Yes, it was uncomfortbanle at first but I persevered!" Kisuke clenched his fists dramatically. "And I'm glad that I did! There is no greater feeling, nor reward, for a man than to take it... well, to take it lie a man!" Kisuke pointed dramatically at a now terrified looking Renji, his voice rising. "And this unseasoned bliss could be yours too! Aysegawa-San knows what I'm talking about."

They all stared, the entire bar stared, behind the bar Yumichika looked deservadly outraged. Renji groaned and dropped his face into his hands while next to him Rukia went scarlet, covering her mouth with her hand.

"That was a disturbing look into your sex life, Kisuke, that I didn't need," Said Yoruichi sinking down into the couch. She actually felt sorry for Renji right now, and by associations she felt sorry for Rukia too.

It wasn't that long ago that Renji had worked here in the Eleventh bar, but he had left and started working at the Sixth bar for Rukia's elder brother, Byakuya. It wasn't really any secret that the whole reason for Renji transferring work places was because of Rukia. From what Yoruichi knew Renji and Rukia had been a couple of sorts a few years back while in high school, but Byakuya had put a stop to it, and now Renji was desperately trying to prove to the Kuchiki prince that he was worthy of Rukia.

With a sigh and an apologetic shrug Yoruichi looked over to Rukia determined to change the subject. "How's Byakuya doing, Rukia-Chan?"

"He's doing well," Rukia replied with a smile, her cheeks were still somewhat flushed.

"Good to know."

"You even old enough to be in here?" Kuukaku interrupted leaning over the table to glare at Rukia. "Ya look about twelve."

"I do not look twelve!" Rukia cried defensively. "Besides, I don't drink so it doesn't really matter."

"Yer not old enough to drink!"

"Half the bar staff here isn't old enough to drink," Kisuke pointed out, now in a much calmer state. "Actually, if I'm not mistaken, the average age of bar staff throughout the Gotei 13 is under the legal drinking age."

Kisuke, Kuukaku and Yoruichi all turned and looked at Soi who was sipping her beer. "What?" She asked. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"How old _are_ you?" Kuukaku demanded.

Soi scowled at Yoruichi. "Do you not know how old I am?"

Yoruichi quickly picked up her own beer and took a swig trying not to look guilty.

"You don't, do you?"

"I have a rough idea," she replied. "You're..." She screwed her eyes shut. "...Twenty?"

"That probably would have sounded better if it wasn't a question," Kisuke murmured.

"Lucky guess," Soi turned away. "I bet you don't even know when my birthday is."

"Hopefully not today," the goddess laughed. "I'm not good at remembering birthdays, the only reason I can remember mine is because the whole world celebrates it."

"Actually the Chinese don't," Kisuke rather helpfully supplied. "They celebrate New Year later than us, so they don't celebrate your birthday at all, or mine either for that matter."

"Thanks Kisuke."

"You're very welcome!" He beamed.

Soi was giving Yoruichi one of her patented un-amused looks; Yoruichi tried smiling but Soi still glared at her. Turning away from her clearly very angry girlfriend, Yoruichi looked over to someone who was bound to lighten the now very tense atmosphere."Rangiku-San!" She called over to the busty woman.

Rangiku turned at hearing her name being called and smiled. "Yoruichi-San," She disentangled herself from Shuuhei and walked over to them. "I haven't seen you in ages. How are you?"

"Can't complain," Yoruichi replied. "just enjoying a few drinks"

"Aren't you a lightweight?" Rangiku pondered outloud, she shrugged and then her eyes brightened with what Yoruichi hoped was inspiration. "What are you guys doing later tonight?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "Guess we're staying here, unless you have a better idea." _Please let her have a better idea._

Rangiku spun round and seized Shuuhei by the arm and dragged him over. "Well, I was just telling Shuuhei-Kun here about a new club that's opening tonight."

Yoruichi frowned, she hadn't heard anything about a new club opening, and she was usually the first to know about these things; especially since club owners usually sent her invitations.

"Although," Rangiku continued. "I suppose you should all give it a miss considering who owns the place."

It all hit home exactly why Yoruichi hadn't heard anything about this new club, she smiled mirthlessly.

Next to her Kisuke rearranged his hat and leant forward. "Is it Aizan's new place by any chance?" He enquired.

Rangiku nodded. "Yeah, Gin works for him and managed to get me some tickets. I'm pretty sure I have enough for you all, and if not I'll just ask Gin to get some more. I'll understand if you guys don't want come though."

Yoruichi turned to Kisuke. "What do you think? Chance to scope out the enemy."

"Heh, Yoruichi-San," Kisuke smiled. "You make it sound like war."

"I think we're in!" she turned to Soi who had replaced the un-amused expression with one of sheer indifference. "How about it Soi, want to go check out this new club?"

"Not really," She replied quietly. "Clubs aren't really my thing, you guys go on though, and I'll just head home."

"Come on, Soi," Yoruichi said. "It won't be any fun without you."

Soi had a slightly pained expression on her face. She sighed and muttered something under her breath that Yoruichi didn't quite catch. "Fine, but I'll have to go home to change first. Somehow I don't think they'll let me in wearing this."

Yoruichi looked at Soi's clothes; they were rather casual, but then so were her own. "Shit, I'll have to go change as well."

"Just come over to mine and borrow some of my stuff," Rangiku said. "We'll have to call there anyway to pick up the tickets."

"Somehow I don't think anything you own will fit me," Soi pointed out her voice dripping with acid.

_Or any of us _Yoruichi thought eyeing those huge jugs of Rangiku's. _Well, maybe Kuukaku._ Yoruichi couldn't help but notice that Shuuhei's eyes were now giving Kuukaku's rather impressive chest their full attention.

Rangiku smiled brightly. "Oh but I do! See I get sent a lot of free clothes from different shops, companies and magazines and things. Rather than getting all the clothes in my size I get a mixture, you know, so I can lend them to my friends and things."

"How come no one sends me free clothes?" Yoruichi demanded.

"Make a big enough fuss and I'm sure they will," Kisuke supplied. "But then you don't pose for pictures like Rangiku-San here does."

"Didn't you once sucker-punch a photographer?" Kuukaku asked.

"No, I haven't sucker-punched anyone in my life," She crossed her arms. "I gave him fair warning of what I was going to do. Besides, I punched the camera, not him."

Soi raised an eyebrow. "Was the camera right up against his face by any chance?"

"It may have been."

Kuukaku laughed and Kisuke sniggered, even Soi cracked a smile.

"Is the plan set?" Rangiku asked.

"Sure is," Yoruichi answered for her 'crowd'.

/\/\/\

The car journey to Rangiku's wasn't half as uncomfortable as the one to the Eleventh bar, both Kuukaku and Kisuke provided plenty of conversation, although; Yoruichi could tell that Kisuke was slightly tense. She wasn't surprised though, Kisuke had a slightly dodgy history with Aizan, they had always been in direct confrontation with each other and thusly, despite some genuine efforts from Kisuke; they didn't get along.

Rangiku's apartment was exactly how Yoruichi had imagined it would be; very messy. Apparently she was incapable of putting anything away, clothes – dirty and clean – were strewn across the place, half empty bottles of sake were piled on tables, benches and the television or anything with a flat surface, filthy days old plates of half eaten meals had been piled in the corner of the living room and screwed up candy wrappers decorated every available space.

"I like what you've done with the place," Kisuke said with a cheery smile.

"Sit down, sit down, I'll get us some drinks," Rangiku said waving them all in and towards what Yoruichi assumed must have been the couch, buried beneath the mountain of clothes it could have been anything. "Feel free to look through the clothes here, the ones on the couch" she pointed to the mountain. "Are all clean, actually I think everything in this room is clean. I usually chuck the dirty stuff in my room." Apparently Rangiku wasn't at all embarrassed about the mess.

Yoruichi moved to the couch and shoved some of the clothes to the side and sat down, she leant back into the mound and grinned. "This is pretty comfy." The table in front of her was stacked with sake; she leant forward and picked up a bottle slightly surprised to see it was good stuff. She was about to take a sip when Kuukaku snatched it from her hand.

"You start drinking that then you'll never make it to the club," She snapped. "We'll be wheelin' you home and dumpin' you face down in the toilet. Again."

Yoruichi pouted slightly. "I was only going to have a sip," she muttered.

As instructed they started rummaging through the clothes for something suitable to wear; Kuukaku found something pretty quickly and went about finding Kisuke something (apparently Rangiku also got men's clothes for free), Yoruichi was having more trouble; she'd formed a maybe pile with several different things heaped into it. Soi seemed to be having more trouble than the rest of them, of course that might be because she seemed to be refusing to actually look.

"Yoruichi!" Kuukaku suddenly bellowed emerging from a particularly colourful pile. "I've found the perfect thing for ya!" She climbed over the obstacle course in front of her and presented the clothing.

Yoruichi stared; it was a small leopard print dress, she squinted at the offending garment. "That is without a doubt the most hideous dress I have ever seen." She snatched it from Kuukaku's hands. "And I must wear it!"

"It gets better," Kuukaku stated with a satisfied nod, she reached round behind. "It comes with matching shoes!" She brandished them with relish.

"Ooh! They're awful!" Yoruichi took them too.

"And cat ears!" Rangiku popped up next to the pair wearing the cat ears.

Yoruichi laughed. "I think that might be going too far, unless you also have a tail?"

"Possibly," Rangiku shrugged. "I'm not sure where it is though."

"Well I'm sorted," Yoruichi looked over to Soi. "How about you?"

The Chinese girl shrugged, she looked thoroughly miserable.

"There has to be something here," Rangiku kicked clothes out of her path as she made her way over to Soi. "What do you usually wear on nights out?"

"Umm, I don't usually go out."

"Ever?" she sounded outraged. "Why not?"

"I don't like clubs," Soi said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I can't afford to."

Rangiku cocked her head to the side. "Hmm, I bet you have trouble finding clothes that fit you," She placed her hand on top of Soi's head. "You're so tiny and skinny too. Bet you could fit into kids clothes no bother."

Soi knocked the taller woman's hand off of her head in annoyance. "Look, this was a bad idea. I'm just going to go home."

"Don't go," Yoruichi said. "Come on Soi, there's bound to be something here."

Rangiku smiled. "I think I might have something," She took hold of Soi by the shoulders and turned her this way and that, muttering under her breath "Promise not to punch me?"

"Huh?" Soi exclaimed. "Why would I – what the hell?"

Yoruichi clenched her fist and gritted her teeth as Rangiku damn near molested her girlfriend. She started forward ready to plant the over exuberant woman on her ass when Kuukaku grabbed her arm. "Get a grip," Kuukaku muttered under her breath.

"I know exactly what you should wear," Rangiku announced. "Come with me." She took hold of Soi's wrist and dragged the disgruntled girl with her and out of the room.

Yoruichi made to follow but Kuukaku still ha hold of her arm. "Let go, Kuukaku."

"Hell I will, ya need to calm down. Boob's there didn't do anything wrong and you were gonna clock her one."

"Didn't do anything wrong? She grabbed-"

"Her tits, yeah I saw," Kuukaku dropped Yoruichi's arm and pulled her cigarettes out of her pocket; she stuck two in her mouth and lit them passing one to Yoruichi. "It'll do the kid some good. Think about how she used to be, always blushing and stammerin' and stuff, she's really come out of her shell this past year. You go running in there and act like her dyke in shinin' armour, well she'll take a step back. Let her be, she'll be fine."

Yoruichi took a comforting drag on her cigarette. "Fine, but if Rangiku does anything to upset her..."

"Yeah, we'll kick her ass."

"We'll?" Yoruichi asked. "Thought you didn't like Soi."

"She's growin' on me, "Kuukaku grinned. "Like a fungus."

Yoruichi shook her head, sometimes Kuukaku could be a very surprising person.

It was nearly a full half hour before Rangiku emerged from what Yoruichi assumed was her room. Kisuke and Kuukaku had all changed into their clothes and were busy chain smoking their way Kuukaku's cigarettes, Yoruichi had changed as well and was eyeballing the sake on the table.

Rangiku cleared her throat and swept her arms towards the door. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I Present to you the new and improved Soi!"

Yoruichi leant forward impatient to see what horrors the drunk had visited upon her little bee, but Soi didn't emerge.

Rangiku deflated. "That was your cue," She called out.

"I don't need a fanfare," Soi said in a terse voice from behind the door.

"You're no fun," Rangiku sighed. "Fine then!" She reached through the door and dragged Soi out by her wrist.

"Huh," Kuukaku said.

"Yeah," Kisuke murmured.

Yoruichi's eyes widened, it was Soi but not the Soi that she knew. The blush and the awkward stance were Soi, but she was different, she looked different and the feeling that she invoked inside Yoruichi was different.

She had taken her braids out and the two tresses that usually made them up were tied loosely back, her hair usually fluffy and unruly had more of a styled look to it, flicking out in controlled angles and spikes. She wore a small amount of make-up around her eyes, just enough to frame and accentuate them. But that wasn't what made Yoruichi lean forward in her seat, made her grip her dress tightly in her hands. Soi was dressed mostly in black, her trousers fitted snugly to her thighs and round her behind but flared out towards her knees resembling traditional hakama, her top seemed to be loose fitting and seemed to tied up round her neck while a yellow sash tied round her waist was the only colour to the ensemble.

Soi was still blushing. "Well?"

"You haven't seen the best bit," Rangiku took hold of Soi by the shoulders and spun her round. The top that Soi was wearing did indeed tie up round her neck, it was also backless. Yoruichi's eyes went if at all possible even wider; and she made a strained noise in her throat.

"I don't know about this," Soi looked over her shoulder attempting to see her own back. "I feel really exposed."

"Trust me on this," Rangiku replied. "You can tell that you exercise a lot, you have a really toned and sexy back, and you should flaunt it more often. Also, you're not as flat I thought you were, but you can still get away with not wearing a bra." Rangiku turned Soi so that she was sideways on to Yoruichi, she lifted Soi's arm in the air. "See, side boob!"

"Stop that!" Soi pulled away from the blonde and placed her arms firmly by her side blushing furiously.

Too late, Yoruichi had seen it. She made yet another strained noise and leaned further forward. Something made contact with the bottom of her jaw and pushed her mouth shut with a snap.

"Yer look like ya gonna catch flies," Kuukaku said loudly, she lowered her voice. "See, she looks hot doesn't she?" Smiling, she dropped her hand from Yoruichi and stood up. "Right then, time to go."

Yoruichi shuffled over to Soi, letting her eyes trail over the younger girl's bare shoulders and down her back, she smirked up one side of her face.

"Does it really look alright?" Soi asked in a quiet voice.

"It looks better then 'alright'," Yoruichi told her. "And don't worry, we won't be out long. We'll check the place out, have a few drinks, maybe a dance and then..." Yoruichi bent down, her lips brushed against Soi's ear; she could feel the heat from Soi's face. "...we'll go back to my place, where I'm going to rip those clothes off of you and fuck you raw." The goddess whispered, tonguing Soi's earlobe. She pulled away, smiled wantonly at her girlfriend and took her hand leading after the others.

"What's the actual name of this club?" Kisuke asked.

Rangiku looked at the passes she had in her hand. "Hueco Mundo," She replied.

Yoruichi didn't care what the name of the place was; right now she couldn't care less about the club at all. The only thing on her mind was ending this night as quickly as politeness would let her. She was eager to get Soi home, where the real fun would be.

* * *

**This chapter just didn't want to be written; I kept getting writer's block or couldn't get into it at all. Urgh! And it's so long, why can't I write nice shirt chapters? I'm not sure if I'm happy with it either, I kind of feel like nothing really happened even though a lot of groundwork was laid down. *Le sigh* **

**Thanks for all your reviews; I hope you enjoyed this chapter (despite its lack of smut). **

**As always, please leave a review on your way out ^^**


	5. Lost Part I Beat Your Heart Out

Lost Part I

_Beat Your Heart Out_

Soi didn't like large crowds; she often found that she disliked people on an individual basis, so a crowd was something she really didn't enjoy. Being as short as she was she often became lost in them, was shoved by those taller and bigger than her, and was generally always underfoot. And she really didn't like drunken people, especially drunken students and business men acting like drunken students. So a club, a large and clearly very popular club, was really her idea of hell; which was why she was giving serious considerations to turning on her heel and leaving. Unfortunately for her Yoruichi had a tight grip on her hand and showed no sign of letting go.

The entrance to Hueco Mundo was crowded with drunken revellers in various states of undress; the aim here seemed to be to try to wear as little clothing as possible without actually being naked. She felt exposed in her outfit, and only her back was on display; compared to the rest she was positively overdressed. Even Kuukaku's skirt with a slit that travelled up her toned leg all the way up to her hip would be considered well covered. Among them only Matsumoto could be considered underdressed enough to fit in. The busty woman had squeezed herself into a small white dress, she spilled out at all the right bits and it hitched just so on her leg, the thin fabric was stretched so thin that she may as well have been naked. On almost anyone else it would have looked trashy, slutty even, but somehow the strawberry blonde pulled it off and made it look like tussled elegance. Matsumoto shared a talent with Yoruichi when it came to clothes; the pair could wear the most hideous outfit and still make it look classy.

Insecurities about her appearance were something that Soi didn't often let troubles her, she had them the same as anyone else, but usually she pushed them to the back of her mind finding other more pressing things to worry about. On nights like this though, surrounded by the height of the young, talented and beautiful she couldn't help but wish that she was hiding in the dark.

"Well, dontcha' all look nice," Ichimaru Gin sauntered up to them from the entrance. Matsumoto went over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek before slipping her arm through his. "Come on in." He turned and led them all past the queue and into Hueco Mundo.

The first thing Soi noticed was that the two bouncers were wearing masks; half their faces were covered by white bone-like things. The second thing she noticed was the group of fashionably dressed people who were waiting for them. Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia were at the front, Rukia dressed in a simple dress and Renji in tight fitting black pants and colourful shirt which seemed to have a Koi on it. Behind them stood Hisagi Shuuhei, his eyes lighting up when he saw Matsumoto; or perhaps when he saw Kuukaku, he didn't seem to know whose breasts he wanted to gawp at, and finally a tall orange headed kid who Soi recognised as the newest barman for the Eleventh bar.

"Hey," Renji turned to them. "You guys took your time." He jerked his thumb behind him. "This is-"

"Ichigo," interrupted the orange headed kid. "Kurosaki Ichigo."

Urahara frowned, something that normally one couldn't tell since his hat covered half his face, Kuukaku and Yoruichi had made him take it off for the night though. "Kurosaki? That names familiar, you Isshin's son?"

"Yeah, I am," Ichigo answered. "You know him?"

"Not really," Urahara answered reverting back to his usual playful tone. "I just like the name."

"Urgh," Ichigo's frown deepened, he shoved his hands forcefully into his pockets and turned away.

"Enough with the chit chat," Kuukaku yelled elbowing forward. "Let's get inside and make with the drinkin'!"

"Very well," Ichimaru disentangled himself from Matsumoto and held out his hand; he had hold of several bands of fabric. "Please wear these, they'll allow y'all into the VIP section."

"There's a VIP section?" Kuukaku grinned and took a band fastening it around her wrist. "Does it have its own bar?"

Ichimaru nodded. "I have things to take care of, hope y'all have fun," he turned and left them all; smiling all the while.

Soi looked at the band; it was white with black writing.

"Las Noches," Yoruichi murmured reading her band. "The night?"

"Yeah," Urahara confirmed. "It seems that Spanish is the theme of here, which isn't surprising really, if I recall Aizen spent some time studying in Spain."

Once inside the club the feeling of claustrophobia that Soi had begun to feel outside intensified. She had thought that since there was a sizable queue outside that the inside would be fairly empty, but the place was jam packed with people. Yoruichi still had a tight grip on her hand, and Soi moved closer to her not wanting to be separated in such an unfamiliar place. Kuukaku seemed to be leading them through the throng of people no doubt honing in on the bar.

The bar staff seemed to be wearing masks as well and dressed in white uniforms each individually tailored to the individual, it was fascinating and grotesque all at the same time. Soi couldn't help but notice that even some of the punters had masks, theirs though covered their entire face and lacked the skeletal structure; she had seen another group of people who wore similar masks but right now she couldn't think where.

"Interesting place, huh?" Yoruichi said into her ear, raising her voice so that she could be heard above the music. She dropped Soi's hand and pressed a bottle into it. "It's really sparse in here, lots of room to dance but no tables to speak of."

She was right, Soi hadn't noticed before but there didn't seem to be anywhere where you could sit down. People were leaning up against the stark white walls, and huddling round the odd pillar that were purely for decoration and provided no structural reassurance whatsoever. The dance floor seemed to be wherever you felt like, although down a low ramp was an area closer to the DJ's booth that was the most heavily occupied. The design of the place was genius, so empty and white with no decoration or distraction. It was the perfect counter to the bars of the Gotei 13, with their different themes and styles they were heavily decorated and laden with obstacles to the senses. Here you were forced to concentrate only on the atmosphere; you were encircled by the mood of everyone around you and felt obligated to let yourself be drawn in.

The choice of music set it apart as well, the thrum of Spanish guitars mixed with the heavy bass beat of something distinctly more techno was something that was never heard in any of the clubs or bars around here.

Yoruichi took a long drink from her beer and grinned, her eyes scanning the crowd. "Seems as though Rukia's convinced Renji to dance," She pointed towards the crowd.

Soi wasn't really sure what surprised her more, the fact that Rukia had convinced Renji to dance at all or the fact that he was actually very good at it. Even Rukia seemed surprised, her large eyes wide and her movements slowing as she watched the red head move his body perfectly to the beat.

"I always knew there was something a little bit gay about him," Kuukaku yelled over the noise.

Yoruichi laughed. "Not all gay men can dance."

"Bullshit! I ain't ever met a gay man who can't dance," Kuukaku downed her bottle of beer in one go and thumped it on the bar top.

It seemed that Renji was now attracting a crowd of young women who were filming him on their cell phones. Rukia had grown bored and had wandered off; Soi could see her sulking against one of the pillars. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ichigo make his way over to the Kuchiki princess and hand her a drink and lean against the pillar next to her.

Yoruichi suddenly straightened up next to Soi. She handed her half-finished bottle to Soi and walked into the crowd disappearing form Soi's sight. Soi's face fell and she slumped slightly, this always happened on nights out with Yoruichi. She would lose the Goddess somewhere along the lines and they would manage to find each other by the end of the night. Although she wasn't surprised by Yoruichi's actions, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. She had hoped that Yoruichi would actually spend the night with her, going off of the dark skinned woman's reaction to Soi's clothes she had seemed fully intent on ending the night early, something that Soi was all in favour of. Generally she disliked it when Yoruichi treated her as a means for easy sex but tonight she could easily make an exception and wouldn't have played hard to get. At the first suggestion of going home, Soi would have forcibly dragged the Shihouin princess to the car.

Turning to her left, Soi found that she had been left alone; everyone else had taken off to do their own thing. She sighed. _Typical._

/\/\/\

Having downed the two beers in quick succession, Soi had moved onto stronger drinks. There were waitresses wandering around offering free shots of some foul tasting liquor, the three waitresses were dressed in white like all the staff here and each wore the now familiar masks. One, her mask more like a hat that sat atop her head with a spike that jutted out from the front, sauntered past. Soi reached out and grabbed two shots, downing both.

"Tch, this one'll be to carry out later," the waitress said with a sneer.

Soi ignored her and wandered off. She was trying to find a buzz, something to take the edge off of her. She really needed a decent drink but couldn't afford one; the free shots were too weak and completely ineffectual. Her eyes scanned over the crowd, she couldn't see anyone she knew, all she could make out was a mass of bodies pressed tightly together and moving as one.

_It's too hot,_ She thought moving through the crowd.

The music changed, it softened and the place seemed to sigh at once with the change in tone. Soi raised her eyes. The lights glazed across raised hands that clasped above the stiffening air of humidity and reflected off the sweat soaked skin of under dressed revellers. The song was slower, the beat less frantic. As one the crowd paused and breathed in and exhaled, the lights dimmed and Soi closed her eyes for a brief moment. She felt the rhythmic sway around her, felt the soaked body of someone's hand on her bare back and flinched away from it. Her eyes opened and through a gap in the crowd she found the one face she had been unconsciously searching for.

She felt sick.

Straight in front of her Yoruichi swayed slowly to the music, her eyes partly closed and her head leant back resting on the shoulder of a woman dancing with her. The woman's arm was wrapped around Yoruichi's waist and was pulling her body against her own, her face buried in the Goddess' neck.

Soi stood transfixed, she couldn't move. Her mind had gone blank and her heart seemed to thud painfully somewhere down in her gut.

Yoruichi worked her body against the woman who moved her hand up to Yoruichi's face, stroking her cheek and then trailing down her neck, her finger tips brushing over the hollow of Yoruichi's throat.

Everything around Soi went out of focus. She could only see the two figures in front of her, they moved as though in slow motion, every little detail of their actions exaggerated.

The music was nothing but a soft buzz in her ear; the bass thrummed and resonated through her body accentuating the roiling sickness in her stomach and the ache in her chest. A lump rose in her throat, cold and burning. She tried to swallow but couldn't.

Someone bumped into her and the world came sharply back into focus. The music frantic and heavy, the people around her danced with wild abandon. She looked up. The crowd had shifted, she couldn't see Yoruichi anymore.

"Whoa!" A masculine voice yelled next to her. "What's with that face?"

She looked to her right, the one who'd knocked into her stood next to her, his hands jammed into the pockets of his white trousers. She looked up, he was well over a foot taller than her and she had to stain her neck to see his face. It didn't help that he was leaning back on his heels, his head tilted back and looking down on her. He wore one of those half masks along his jaw.

She backed away.

He grinned. "What, you afraid of me?"

She looked back to the crowd, she still couldn't see Yoruichi; wasn't sure if she wanted to see her right now. Swallowing the lump in her throat she moved forward shoving the grinning idiot out of her way. On auto pilot she fast-walked around a group of giggling girls and turned a corner and banged open the door in front of her.

The toilets were empty, there wasn't even an attendant; and she was absurdly grateful for it. She headed into one of the cubicles; locking the door behind her and put the lid down on her toilet before taking a seat.

Closing her eyes she took a long deep breath and exhaled.

_Idiot!_

What had she expected? When had Yoruichi ever spent the night completely with her?

_I'm such an idiot!_

Out of sight, out of mind; that was how their relationship worked. Yoruichi would go off and flirt with whomever she felt like and Soi would turn a blind eye. She would look the other way and feign ignorance. She had told herself that it didn't matter, that it was her who Yoruichi went home with at the end of the night and that was what really mattered.

"I'm such a fucking idiot!" She gripped her head in her hands, her fingers digging painfully into her scalp and fought off the tears that burned her eyes.

The door to the toilets banged open and Soi heard the footsteps and voices of fresh occupants.

"Oh my god! Did you see who's here?" One of the voices asked excitedly. "Shihouin Yoruichi!" The girl squealed.

"Yeah, yeah," A second bored sounding voice.

"Do you think she'll let have my picture taken with her?" The excitable girl asked. "Or sign something for me?"

"Why would you want her autograph? It's not like she's famous for anything other than being rich?"

"That's not true, she used to do some modelling, and she was an athlete."

"Emphasis on the _was,_" The bored voice replied. "I bet you don't even know what sport she did. Besides, she's clearly busy with that woman, attention seeking form the looks of it." the girl barked out a laugh. "She's probably desperate to have her picture taken."

Soi had heard enough, she stood up and flushed the toilet before opening the cubicle door and stepping out. The two girls stopped fixing their hair and make-up and looked to her. She ignored them and went to the basin washing her hands. She looked at her reflection; her hair was still perfectly styled, the light amount of make-up she was wearing wasn't ruined. No one would be able to tell that she had nearly just bawled her eyes out in the toilets of a club, and no one ever would. Turning off the tap she flicked her hands dry and left; the eyes of the girls on her back.

Ignoring everybody around her, Soi made her way towards the exit. She didn't feel the need to tell anyone where she was going, it wasn't as though they'd miss her. She had enough money in her pocket to get a taxi home, although it would probably eat up most of her pay. Still it was better than remaining here. Just as she made it to the exit a hand grasped her arm, she turned.

"Hey," Ichigo stood next to her. He dropped his hand. "Where're you going?"

"Home," Soi replied not looking at him.

"Already? They just opened up the VIP section; we're all heading up there now."

She sighed. "I don't want to go."

"We've got a free bar apparently," He continued ignoring her. "May as well check it out."

"I don't care."

He took hold of her shoulder and steered her away from the exit. "Yeah well, Kuukaku-San told me I had to find you. She's a scary lady; I don't wanna mess with her."

Silently Soi cursed Kuukaku; the woman was probably just trying to annoy her.

Ichigo lead Soi to the back of the club where there was a wide stair case, white like the rest of the décor, they both headed up it.

"Well lookie who it is."

Soi looked up; standing in the doorway to the VIP section was the man from earlier tonight. His hands were still in his pockets and he was still swaying on his heels in a manner that screamed his relaxed disinterest in those around him, she noticed now that he was wearing a small white jacket; open without a shirt beneath it showing off a well toned physique. She rolled her eyes at this, clearly the man loved himself.

"Outta our way, Grimmjow!" Ichigo ordered his voice low and threatening.

"Heh, why should I?"

"If you don't move then I'll move you!"

Grinning, Grimmjow leant forward. "As if you could."

"Grimmjow!" a deep voice said from the shadows. Tousen walked from a separate room. "Let them through, its Aizen-Sama's wish that they have Las Noches to themselves."

His grin faltering, Grimmjow stepped out of their way and waved them through. When they walked past his eyes flickered down to Soi and then to Ichigo, he growled and turned away.

"Do you know him?" Soi asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo replied. "We go to the same gym. I've sparred with him too, he always goes all out." Ichigo grinned. "He's an arrogant asshole but he can back it up with his fists." Judging by the slightly maniacal grin, Ichigo would fit right in with the other staff at the Eleventh bar.

The VIP section was surprisingly small, with a well lit bar overlooking a circular room. There were white seats lining the wall and a large table in the middle. On one side there was a window that Soi guessed overlooked the rest of the club. Kuukaku and Urahara were sat next to each other, Urahara leaning forward resting his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together, an uncharacteristic serious expression on his face. Kuukaku looked much more relaxed leaning back on the seat, her arms spread across the back. Rukia was sitting next to Hisagi and talking to him and Matsumoto.

Crossing the room, Soi looked out of the window, indulging her masochism; her eyes scanned the dancing crowd beneath her. She felt someone brush up against her, a strong hand on her shoulder.

"What you looking at Fon?" Kuukaku asked her face disconcertingly close to Soi's.

"Nothing," Soi muttered pulling away. She bit her lip hard as she found exactly who she was looking for. Yoruichi stood out from the crowd, her purple hair made her very easy to find. She was still dancing with that woman, now facing each other they were entirely too close, their bodies pressed together and grinding against one another.

Soi turned away not wanting to see anymore. She swallowed and ignored the tightness in her chest.

"What's up with you?" Kuukaku demanded. "Ah shit!" She muttered.

Soi headed towards the door. "I'm going."

"No you ain't," Kuukaku grabbed her arm. "Sit down."

Kuukaku didn't give her much choice shoving the petite Chinese girl against the seat and forcing her to sit. Soi just stared at the floor, her fingers fidgeted with the fabric of her trousers.

_I don't want to be here, _She thought, swallowing the lump in her throat for the umpteenth time this night. _I want to go home._

"What's going on?" Rukia asked concern lacing her voice.

"Nothin'," Kuukaku answered. "Just leave it Kuchiki."

"You okay?" Urahara asked quietly.

Soi looked over to him; he looked strange without his hat, watching her from the corner of his eye. She turned away not answering him and concentrated on the floor again.

"Here," Kuukaku forced a glass into Soi's hands, a brown liquid in it. "Drink it, you'll feel better." Kuukaku set down the bottle on the table in front of Soi; it was whiskey a brand that Soi didn't recognise. She drained the contents of the glass and coughed as it burned her throat. Kuukaku immediately refilled the glass. "Sip this one, don't down it."

Soi gripped the glass tightly in her hand, her knuckles going white with the strain.

Kuukaku sighed. "Look, just take no notice of her okay? She's got her stupid head on, I dunno, maybe the moons full or something. Ignore her."

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Matsumoto asked.

"Everything's fine!" Kuukaku yelled across the room. "Mind yer own fuckin' business!'

"Overreaction," Matsumoto muttered turning away.

Soi sipped the whiskey; it warmed her mouth and eased the closed pain in her throat but did little to alleviate the ache in her chest. Kuukaku placed her hand on Soi's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"We both know what she's like, she'll have a dance, a flirt and then she'll come running over to you. She always does."

Draining the glass, Soi reached forward and grabbed the bottle and poured herself a healthy measure and downed that too.

"Okay," Kuukaku took the bottle form Soi's grip. "You're going overboard there."

Soi could feel her lip trembling, her eyes burned.

_Don't cry, _She ordered herself. _Don't you dare fucking cry!_

Kuukaku's hand caught her hard on the cheek and turned Soi to face her, an uncharacteristic amount of concern shone in the wild woman's eyes. "Get a grip, okay?" She said quietly. "Drink yer drink, and don't go embarrassing yerself."

Numbly Soi raised the glass to her lips and sipped the whiskey; she turned away from Kuukaku and took a deep shaky breath.

"That's better," Kuukaku moved away from her and turned to Urahara. "And you cheer the fuck up too!" She ordered.

/\/\/\

Soi ignored the rest of the group, they settled into a conversation without her. Hisagi was telling them about how he pretty much won the basketball game on his own; clearly trying to impress Matsumoto, Kuukaku loudly made fun of his tattoo while Ichigo and Rukia spent their entire time at the bar ignoring everyone else in the room. The only person who seemed as miserable as Soi was Urahara, who sat in a tense silence not even drinking. His thumb brushed over his bottom lip and looking as though he was deep in thought. It was unnerving seeing him like this, he was usually so goofy; always making inappropriate jokes and smiling happily, vaguely Soi wondered what had gotten him so on edge.

The group's night was interrupted when Grimmjow strutted in followed by a pale dark haired youth with entirely too much make-up on. They both had their hands in their pockets and took up position near the bar, Grimmjow leaning back and sneering. Urahara perked up, frowning. A moment later in walked a tall man, his hair slicked back from his face and wearing white. He had a commanding presence, an aura of earned arrogance. This was clearly Aizen Sousuke, the owner of Hueco Mundo. Soi had only seen him once, back when he worked for the Gotei 13; he had seemed so different back then.

"Greetings," he said warmly taking a seat directly opposite Urahara. "It's been a while, Urahara-San."

Soi had expected Urahara to smile, to wave in his usual dorky manner, but he simply leant forward. "It has been a while," he replied. "What happened to your glasses? Contacts?"

Aizen frowned slightly. "Is that what we're going to discuss?" He sounded disappointed. "Still you play these games."

"Games? Aizen-San you wound me," Urahara smiled. "I was simply enquiring into your health. If its games you want to play then we could go to the window and play I-spy."

Aizen ignored his jibe and looked around the room. "You're missing some people," He turned to Rukia. "How is your brother?"

"He's doing well," Rukia replied. Soi noticed that she had stiffened when Aizen had addressed her, her small hand seemed to be gripping Ichigo's arm tightly. "He sends his regards."

"I'm sure he does," Aizen smiled humourlessly. "Where's our delightful princess? I was told that she was here as well."

"She's not one for sitting still," Urahara replied. "This is quite an impressive set-up you have here."

Aizen crossed his legs and smiled, his chin resting on the back of his hand.

"You seem to have a lot of staff though, for such a small place."

"Small? I would hardly call this place small."

Urahara's eyes travelled to Grimmjow and the pale youth. "And you seem to have a lot of muscle."

"My customers' safety is a top priority," Aizen replied immediately, almost lazily. He turned to Soi and smiled as if he had just noticed her. "And how are you, Shaolin-San? I trust that your family is well."

Something about the way he said her name, about the way he spoke about her family, gave Soi the chills. "They're fine," She answered, her voice quiet.

"Oh? I had heard that there had been some sort of trouble, riots or something like that. Your family's name cropped up, but I must be mistaken."

Soi ground her teeth together. Why was he looking at her like that?

Urahara chuckled lightly causing Aizen to return his gaze to the blonde man. "Is something amusing, Urahara-San?"

"No, not at all, I was just thinking that if you have put the effort into the Fifth bar that you have here, you probably would have had the most successful bar in the Gotei 13."

"Jealous?" Aizen smirked and leant back. "All that work you've put in for the Old man, all those wasted years. And what is your reward?" Slowly Aizen uncrossed his legs and stood up, smiling he looked to the window. "Yamamoto takes us for fools. He offers a sanctuary for the rich and idle, lets them play out the seedier parts of their enterprise and gives them the safety net to protect their reputation. All he asks in return is revenue. He uses them; his bars are a joke, a safe and practically legal way to pay for protection." Aizen strolled to the window and looked out. "What I am offering is so much more."

"It's a club, Aizen-San," Urahara said his voice low. "That's all this is. I don't doubt for a second that it's going to be a very successful club, but it will only ever be a place for dancing, drinking and entertainment."

"You think so?" Aizen turned from the window. "A lap-dog that is all you are and all you'll ever be. Sad really, all that potential going to waste. Why hasn't Yamamoto given you your own bar to run?"

Urahara smiled. "I had the Second bar. I was always happy running it alongside Yoruichi-San."

"Her assistant manager, her second in command. What a faithful servant you are, always coming second. But then," Aizen's eyes flickered to Kuukaku and he smiled cruelly. "You were always happy with settling for second best."

Urahara stood up suddenly causing nearly everyone in the room to jump back. Grimmjow and the pale youth stepped forward, Aizen looked completely uninterested. For a moment Soi thought that Urahara was actually going to hit Aizen, his fists were clenched at his side. Slowly, Kuukaku took hold of Urahara's wrist and pulled him down.

"Don't," She said quietly. "There's no point."

"Hmm," Aizen strolled past them all towards the door. "The bar is still on the house, enjoy yourselves. Ulquiorra, stay here."

"Yes, Aizen-Sama," The pale youth said.

Aizen strode form the room with Grimmjow close behind him. Ulquiorra took up position near the bar, his expression unreadable. Urahara had his head ducked his hair falling over his face, Kuukaku was gripping his wrist; her thumb brushing back and forth. No one seemed to know what to say, Rukia and Ichigo were still at the bar huddled together, Hisagi and Matsumoto had both gone silent and looked thoughtful (or as thoughtful as Matsumoto ever looked).

Soi turned away from them all her eyes glancing to the window. She didn't care about whatever was going on here, Aizen could set up as many clubs as he liked, it didn't affect her in any way. She stood shakily to her feet and swayed, the alcohol finally seeming to have an effect. Turning she strode from the room fully intent on going home, no one stopped her this time.

* * *

**Whew! Another chapter done! **

**Well not really… Originally this chapter and the next one were meant to be one, but it would have been ridiculously long (I worry about chapter length too much). After reading through it a few times, and having a friend read through it I decided that there was just too much information to take in at once.**

**Hopefully I should have the second part to this chapter up mid-week (optimistic!), the weekend at the latest. **

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review and tell me what you think ^^**


	6. Lost Part II Dismantle Me

**Oh my goodness did I get a shock when I saw all those reviews; I really wasn't expecting them at all. Thank you so much! I think I managed to reply to them all; if I missed you – sorry!**

**

* * *

**

Lost part II

_Dismantle Me_

The music, Yoruichi had noticed, was inconsistent. It blared from a frantic pace to a lulling ballad with no pause between for the dancers to attune to. Frankly it was annoying. She loved to dance; to lose herself in the rhythm, not to have to constantly correct herself on her own moves. And the Spanish guitars were getting old, would it kill them to play something she knew?

She looked across to the woman she was dancing with; Maya? The woman had introduced herself, but her name escaped Yoruichi right now. Not that she'd actually been planning on remembering it; Yoruichi had only made a beeline for the woman because she seemed to be the best dancer in the place. Although now that the Shihouin princess looked at the other dancers she felt that perhaps Renji was the best dancer here, which was slightly disconcerting.

Her eyes travelled round the room, she had lost sight of Soi some time ago. Having left the small Chinese girl at the bar, Yoruichi had gone to dance knowing that Soi wouldn't follow, but had kept at least one eye on her. That was until Soi had decided she didn't want to be a bar prop anymore and had gone off wandering. Yoruichi had been torn between following her or staying where she was and actually having fun, in the end she had decided that Soi was a big girl and could easily take care of herself. Besides, they'd find each other at the end of the night, they always did.

"What's that smile for?" Maya asked, her arm snaking round Yoruichi's waist.

"What smile?" Yoruichi turned her head to face the woman. _She's taller than me_, that didn't sit well with the Goddess. When called out on it Yoruichi happily admitted she had a bit of a complex about her height, she preferred to be the taller one. Looking down at their feet she was dismayed to find that her dance partner wasn't even wearing heels while she was; even with the extra inches she was still the shorter of the two.

"That dreamy smile," hands fell down to Yoruichi's waist and gripped her hips attempting to control Yoruichi's movements. "You must be thinking of something good..." Maya paused and dipped her head her lips too close to Yoruichi's ear. "...or someone."

_Time to drop this one, _Yoruichi thought. The music made one of its frequent changes the beat gaining speed, the frantic wail of the acoustic guitar jarring against the heavy bass line that accompanied. It was the perfect excuse for Yoruichi to disentangle herself from the woman's prying grip. _And to go find Soi, _That thought made her smile.

/\/\/\

The atmosphere had defiantly plummeted, even Rangiku looked uncomfortable, earlier she had tried to start meaningless conversation but it had fallen on deaf ears. Not even Shuuhei could indulge her; he sat in silence looking deep in thought. Rukia and Ichigo were standing close to together, their arms brushing, and both frowning.

Kuukaku sighed and gripped Kisuke's hand. It had been a bad idea to come here, from the very moment it had been suggested she had thought so; but both Yoruichi and Kisuke had been so intent on it that she hadn't even bothered to voice her objections. Soi had left a while ago, Kuukaku had seen her leave but was more concerned about Kisuke at the time; in retrospect she felt she probably should have done something to stop Soi if only as a favour to Yoruichi.

"I'm going to head home," Shuuhei stood up. "This was fun, but I've got practice in the morning. See you all later." He glanced at Rangiku who waved him off, turning he looked at Kuukaku; frowned and then walked away.

A moment later Rangiku stood up and straightened her dress. "I think I'll go find Gin," she said. "This has been an interesting night." She sauntered off swaying her hips as she went.

Without saying anything both Rukia and Ichigo left as well, only Kisuke and Kuukaku were left under the watchful gaze of the emo kid who was leaning against the bar. Another sigh escaped Kuukaku's lips.

"It's not like you to sigh so much," Kisuke said.

"Yeah well, it's been one of those nights," Kuukaku turned to face him; he looked tired. "Do you wanna go?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. We do have a free bar to ourselves, seems a shame to waste Aizen-San's generosity."

Grinning Kuukaku jumped to her feet. "Shall we make a cocktail then?"

"I think we shall," he climbed to his feet and made his way to the bar. "Using champagne as the basis of course."

She laughed. "Oh of course, only the best for us," At least he was making the effort to cheer up, or to cheer her up. As long as he stopped brooding she could hopefully stop him from meddling in affairs which really shouldn't concern him. They'd both be safer for it.

/\/\/\

Elbowing her way through the crowd, Soi made her way towards the exit. She wished she hadn't left her jacket at Matsumoto's, it would probably be cold outside and she had no desire to freeze to death on her way home. She clutched her cell phone in her hand and mentally tallied up if she had enough money for a taxi. It would eat up most of her recent pay she decided but would easily be worth it, she didn't want to wait here and have to deal with Yoruichi.

She stopped.

Turning she looked back the crowd, all those people dancing, all those people enjoying themselves. Slowly, she took a step back towards them.

_Yoruichi..._

The sensible thing would be to walk away. Yet she found herself looking through all the faces, looking for the Goddess. Fuelled by her earlier efforts at intoxication she moved towards the heaving mass, cutting through them, her small frame allowed her to slip between groping hands and sweat soaked bodies. She had a rough idea of where about Yoruichi was; her body moving on auto pilot taking her to where her mind had mapped out and pin pointed the Shihouin princess earlier. Or perhaps it was sheer instinct that led her towards her girlfriend.

Whatever it was it didn't take Soi long to locate Yoruichi; who had moved away from the throng of people and was leaning against the wall. Soi's stomach lurched when she recognised the woman who Yoruichi had been dancing with next to the dark skinned woman. Stopping, clenching her fists, Soi watched them. The woman, dark hair and tall, moved closer to Yoruichi her head dipped and her hands going to either side of the Goddess's head. Soi's first thought was to walk away, to get out while she had the chance. She went as far as turning but then her second thought struck.

_What are you doing?_

Everything seemed to stop.

_What am I doing?_

Her eyes shifted from Yoruichi to the woman whose hands seemed to be all over the Goddess; defiling her.

_And what the hell does _she _thinks she's doing?_

Soi found an emotion to fill that hollow void that had rapidly been spreading through her, burning red hot and consuming all rational thought, she let anger wash over her. The woman's hand moved to Yoruichi's face, fingers going to trace a dark cheek. Soi didn't even remember moving, but she was there almost instantly her own hand shooting out and seizing a thin wrist.

"Soi?" Yoruichi's eyes widened and she straightened up.

The woman turned to face Soi looking down her eyes narrowed; she had a long face and high cheek bones. "Who are you?" She looked back to Yoruichi. "Who's she?"

Soi dropped the woman's hand. "Funny, I was going to ask you the same question."

"Is she one of your little fans?" The woman asked her lip curling. "Give her an autograph and tell her to leave us alone."

Yoruichi winced. "Look it's probably best if you leave," She told the woman.

"What? I'm not going anywhere," She reached her bony hand towards Soi.

"Touch me and I'll break your arm," Soi warned. "In at least three different places."

The woman's eyes widened in shock. Soi wasn't sure if it was the tone of voice she used or the deadly serious expression she wore, but the woman withdrew her hand and stepped back. She looked back to Yoruichi and then back down to Soi before returning her gaze to Yoruichi. The Goddess remained silent her golden eyes watching Soi.

"Fine," The woman seethed, she spun on her heel and quick marched away.

"Phew!" Yoruichi rubbed the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. "That could have been messy."

Soi reacted without thinking, red hot rage still coursing through her veins and fuelling her actions. She lashed out and struck Yoruichi hard on the cheek, somewhere between a slap and a punch, absolutely no form to her strike. Yoruichi fell against the wall her hand going to her cheek her eyes wide with shock. Soi took one look at the dark skinned woman before turning on her heel and hurrying off, leaving the goddess cradling her cheek and hopefully her damned pride.

/\/\/\

"That's foul," Kisuke gently placed the glass back on the bar top. "It tastes like feet."

"Seriously?" Kuukaku picked up the glass, eyed the murky contents, and took a generous mouthful. "Urgh! Sweaty feet!" She put the glass down and grabbed the glass of water she had on standby; gulping it down.

It was their fourth concoction of the night so far and easily the worst. Kisuke pushed it back along the bar with a single finger. "That's a no-no then," He chewed his lip thoughtfully. "I think we're going to have to resort to using a fruit juice as a basis."

"I'm telling ya it's just a waste of glass space," Kuukaku replied. "We could use cider instead it'll work just the same."

"The cider one just tasted like butter, it was foul as well," He sighed took a gulp of his own water wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He swayed slightly on his feet and placed his hands flat on the bar top to steady himself.

Kuukaku couldn't help but let a chuckle escape her as she watched him. "I think you're wasted."

"Nah," he smiled. "I'm just slightly tipsy." He turned round and looked about the room. "It's a well known fact, I don't get wasted."

Kuukaku rested her head on her arms. "Kisuke?"

"Hmm?"

"About tonight, are you gonna call it in?"

The smiled dropped from his face. "You know I have to."

"No, you don't," she pushed herself up. "You could just ignore it, it's not as though it actually involves you."

"But it does involve me."

"You don't owe him anything, you're not one of his clients, you're barely even an ex employee."

"What about your brother?" He asked. "Kaien's assistant manager of the Thirteenth bar, this'll involve him."

"He's a big boy, he can watch out for himself."

Kisuke turned to her. "What about Yoruichi?"

It always came down to Yoruichi. "Doesn't involve her," Kuukaku replied.

"Of course it does," Kisuke raised his hand up and studied it, his fingers splayed out and light spilling between them. "She's still under the protection of the Gotei 13; her family still has the lease for the Second bar." He dropped his hand and turned his head towards Kuukaku. "I promised her father I'd watch out for her. The right people have to be informed about what Aizen plans."

Kuukaku sighed. "Yoruichi made it sound like a game," she murmured. "You make it sound like war."

Kisuke didn't reply.

/\/\/\

The night air was cold, just as Soi had expected, she shivered wrapping her arms around herself. There were still people queuing up to enter Hueco Mundo, and others stumbling out clinging to one another in drunken abandon. She ignored them, desperate to put as much distance between the place and herself as possible. She hadn't gotten far when she heard an all too familiar voice.

"Soi!" Yoruichi called from behind sounding slightly breathless. "Soi, wait up!"

Soi ignored her and increased her pace.

"Soi!" Yoruichi yelled. "Slow down!"

Shaking her head Soi ploughed on.

"For fucks sake stop!"

"Just leave me alone!" Soi bellowed over her shoulder.

"No! Now will you stop?" She actually sounded angry. Soi couldn't ever remember Yoruichi sounding angry. "Dammit Soi, I'm wearing heels!"

Soi increased her pace. Yoruichi was usually faster than her but in heels she wouldn't be able to keep up at all. She was just about to cross the road when something hard collided with her legs causing her to stumble. She looked down; a leopard print shoe lay at her feet. She turned; Yoruichi had the other shoe in her hand; raised and taking aim.

"That's better," Yoruichi lowered the shoe and quick walked over to Soi. "Want to tell me what that was about?"

Soi glared at her.

"Well?"

A red mark was already printed on Yoruichi's cheek; Soi looked away not wanting to see where she had blemished Yoruichi's usually flawless skin.

"Don't be childish, Soi," Yoruichi said. "And tell me what this strop is about?"

"Strop?"

Yoruichi nodded. "I didn't do anything with that woman if that's what you were thinking."

"I saw you."

Confusion spread across the older woman's face. "Huh? Saw what?" She placed her hands on her hips and looked down on Soi.

"I saw you with that woman, I saw you together and-"

"Dancing," Yoruichi cut in. "We were dancing, that's all you saw."

Soi looked away. "From where I was standing you looked pretty cosy."

"I didn't do anything wrong so stop trying to make it sound like I did."

"Why'd you go dance with her anyways?"

"Because I wanted to dance!" Yoruichi voice was low but she was sounding more frustrated by the second. "Because I like to dance. Because I like to socialise and meet new people, and she seemed like as good a person as any."

"You could have danced with anyone of the people we came here with."

"I didn't want to dance with any of them. I really don't see what you're getting so bent out of shape about here; yeah I danced with some woman but it's still only dancing." Yoruichi sighed and ran her hand through her head. "Look, I'm sorry alright?"

"No, it's not all right," She was still too angry to let Yoruichi off the hook with a half-hearted apology.

"Why would it be all right for you to go off with the first available skank on display?"

"Last I checked I was allowed to look."

"That wasn't fucking looking!" Soi all but screamed.

"Keep your voice down!" Yoruichi hissed.

"No! What is wrong with you? Are you really that vain? That selfish?"

"Do you really want to do this here?" Yoruichi asked her voice low.

"What?" Soi took a step back and looked around. There were people crowding round them, staring and with their phones out clearly filming their little fight. A flash went off and she couldn't help but cringe away from the attention.

"Right," Yoruichi bent forward and picked up her discarded shoe. "I'm going to call Komamura. If you really want to tear me a new one then you can back home. I think we've already made a big enough scene here, don't you?"

Soi's shoulders slumped. Another flash went off and she gripped the fabric of her trousers tightly. Yoruichi had turned away from her, her cell phone wedged between her head and shoulder as she struggled to put her shoes back on. She didn't seem to care that so many people were staring at them, but then she had grown up with this kind of attention; she probably didn't even notice them.

"Right," Yoruichi flipped the lid down on her phone and turned back to Soi. "He'll be here in a few minutes."

It might have been the longest few minutes in Soi's entire life.

/\/\/\

Yoruichi's apartment was located in the trendier part of the city; Soi didn't like to think how much it would cost to live here. They had walked in, waved idly to the doorman, and then silently gotten in the elevator both refusing to look at the other. Usually Soi took the stairs loving the burning feel she would get in her thighs from the uphill struggle.

Once she had raced Yoruichi up the stairs, the Goddess had easily won being taller she could take more steps in a single bound than Soi, but she had been just as knackered when she'd reached the top. They had lain in a heap outside the apartment door laughing; Yoruichi flushed from her victory had pulled Soi into a breathless embrace. Soi remembered it all so clearly. The look in those golden eyes had been the turning point for her; she remembered the feel of Yoruichi's heart beating frantically against her own. She remembered feeling terrified as she realised that she couldn't imagine her life without this woman.

Just over a month later it had all ended.

She had discovered that everything between them had been a lie. Yoruichi had betrayed her in the worst way possible. Dimly Soi remember the exact moment it had all come out; the months of deceit, Yoruichi had been cheating on her for months. So many people had warned her, all her friends had tried to tell her, but she ignored them certain that the Shihouin heiress wouldn't so that to her. She had been wrong, so very wrong.

What hurt the worst that was that if Yoruichi had apologised then Soi, coward that she was, would have forgiven her. She would have put it all behind her and carried on blindly to the next moment when the Goddess broke her heart. Six months later they had been reunited. Yoruichi had never apologised and Soi had never forgiven her.

Opening the door, Yoruichi stepped aside and let Soi through. She let the door close behind her and dropped her keys into a bowl that was on a small table next to the door. Soi walked a ways in and stopped; she slowly turned and looked to the older woman. All the anger that she had felt earlier had burned out leaving only cold tiredness in its wake.

"So," Yoruichi loosely crossed her arms. "Please continue."

Soi flinched from the tone that Yoruichi used.

"No? Can't you remember where you were?" Yoruichi tipped her heard to the side and made an exaggerated show of thinking. "I think you were in the middle of telling me what a horrible person I am. Vain? Check. Selfish? Check."

"Please stop," Soi muttered.

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow. "Just giving you a refresher of where the argument was going?" Soi looked away. Yoruichi made a disgusted noise in her throat. "And here I thought you were really going to let me have it."

"I don't like it when you go off with other women."

Yoruichi sighed. "I didn't go off with another woman. I just went and danced with some random, it's not as if anything else would have happened."

"That's not the point."

"Don't you trust me?"

Soi didn't answer.

"Ah, of course you don't," Yoruichi moved closer. "When you came over I was about to leave her and go looking for you." She walked past Soi and round the bar top that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room. Soi watched as the dark skinned woman opened the fridge door and took out a bottle of milk, rather than popping the top and drinking it, she pressed the cold bottle to her cheek.

Guilt gnawed away at the Chinese girl. "Whenever we go out, you always go off with someone else and leave me alone."

Yoruichi shrugged. "Maybe you should be more social," She suggested. "It's not as if we're glued at the hip. I do have a life separate from you."

"You honestly don't get it do you?"

"You're jealous. It's a natural reaction and completely understandable."

Jealousy didn't even begin to describe what Soi was feeling. The anger returned with a vengeance. "It fucking hurts!" Soi shouted. "How the hell can you not get this? You're the most arrogant, selfish person I have ever met!"

Yoruichi set the milk down on the counter top. "I am not going to apologise for who I am," She said slowly.

"I'm not asking you too," Soi shook her head. "I just wish you'd realise that it hurts to see you with other people."

"Again, I understand that you're jealous and-"

"Fucking hell!" Soi yelled. "Yes I'm jealous! How could I not be? You always fuck off with the nearest skank and expect me to just accept this and watch! And I'm the real fucking idiot here because I just take it! I'm sick of being treated like this, I'm sick of feeling like this and I'm really fucking sick of you!"

Silence. Yoruichi stared; her golden eyes wide with shock. Running a hand through her long hair she laughed humourlessly and turned her head away from Soi. "Well," she said finally. "If that's how you feel, by all means." She gestured towards the door.

Her lip trembling Soi looked towards the door, it seemed so very far away. She didn't want to, she didn't want to leave. Her whole body quivered, she looked down at her feet. "I didn't mean that," she said her voice barely above a whisper. "But I should go." She turned and moved woodenly towards the door, afraid that if she stepped out of the apartment, out of Yoruichi's world she'd never be allowed back in. Slowly she placed her hand flat against the surface of the door; it was cold. "I'll call you tomorrow, yeah?"

Yoruichi didn't answer. Soi swallowed down the tears that threatened to engulf her. Did Yoruichi mean it? Were they over?

_Again?_

Soi's shaking hand reached for the handle, she couldn't get a grip on it, and she was too scared to open the door. She felt the presence behind her but didn't turn. Yoruichi's hand moved over her own, dark fingers slipping between pale ones, she drew Soi's hand back. Yoruichi's other arm slipped around Soi's waist and pulled her back from the door and into the taller woman's body, her face dipping down; her forehead against Soi's bare shoulder.

"Yoruichi," Soi's voice was so quiet, so hope tinged and filled with sadness.

"Shut up," Yoruichi ordered her quietly. The goddess walked backwards bringing Soi with her; her arm keeping a firm grip around Soi's midsection. Gently she kissed Soi's bare shoulder, then her neck and finally her temple. Her hand travelled from Soi's up the Chinese girl's arm and to her face, fingers tracing over lips and tipping her head back against Yoruichi's shoulder. Slowly Yoruichi's fingers traced down Soi's chin, trailed down her windpipe before splaying out over her exposed throat. Gently, lifting her hand from the exposed neck, Yoruichi cupped Soi's cheek and turned her head to face her, to look into those stormy eyes. "Sometimes..." Yoruichi whispered. "...You..." her fingers brushed over Soi's lips. "... Make me so fucking angry."

Soi's eyebrows knitted together. It was true, she could see it in the Goddess' golden eyes; the anger, the rage. Unlike Soi's anger though it didn't flare, it wasn't explosive or turbulent, it was ice cold fury. And it was all the more terrible for it. Yoruichi closed the gap between them pressing her lips against Soi's and holding her there her hand clasped against Soi's head.

Wrapped in the embrace all cognitive thought escaped Soi. All that mattered was the warmth of Yoruichi's body pressed against hers, the strong arms that held her tightly and the feel of those lips that burned her. Yoruichi broke the kiss and stared into Soi's eyes her own unfocused. Soi gasped and tried to move closer to Yoruichi, desperate for more contact. Yoruichi turned suddenly dragging Soi round with her, and she roughly shoved Soi forward towards the bar top. Soi clattered against one of the stools that were against the bar, her forearms banged down on the top and she winced with the impact. She tried to push herself back but Yoruichi's hand was on the back of her neck holding her down.

"Yoruichi?" She questioned her voice shaking slightly.

There was no reply. Instead Soi felt Yoruichi's free hand against the small of her back, fingertips trailed up her spine making her shiver, and then the familiar warmth of Yoruichi's body against her own. Soi stayed perfectly still, unsure of what was going on, of what Yoruichi planned on doing. Yoruichi's hands travelled to Soi's slender hips, roughly she began to pull against the yellow sash that was wrapped around Soi's waist unwinding the frail fabric and tossing it aside. Her fingertips dipped into the waist band of Soi's trousers, pulled out and made their way up Soi's body to tease her breasts through the soft fabric of her top.

"Oh..." Soi muttered weakly.

Yoruichi's hands moved away, suddenly she pushed Soi harder against the bar forcing the smaller girl's body down onto the cold surface. Soi pushed back and into Yoruichi her hands trying to get a grip on the smooth surface of the counter. Yoruichi was having none of it, she moved in her body tightly trapping Soi against the bar. One arm snaked round Soi's waist and held her tight while her free hand roughly clawed between Soi's legs.

Soi grunted and her body instinctively curled, one leg raised slightly. She felt Yoruichi's lips against her shoulder, replaced by her forehead resting while she gripped Soi's small body to her. Her fingers continued to rub Soi hard through her trousers. Again Soi tried to push away from the counter top, she braced her foot against the bar and pushed back, but Yoruichi was stronger than her and merely shoved her back against it. Soi gasped as Yoruichi's hands slipped through the side of her top and moved up to her breasts kneading them. Soi couldn't help it, a moan escaped her lips and she gripped the side of the bar as Yoruichi lazily circled a nipple before pinching it between thumb and finger.

"Do you want me to stop?" The Goddess asked suddenly.

Dumbly Soi nodded. She was uncertain and confused by Yoruichi's actions not feeling at all comfortable with where this was possibly going.

"Are you sure?"

"Y... yes," Soi managed. "Stop."

"Hmm," Yoruichi's hands dropped from Soi's chest and the small girl let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Her relief didn't last long, her breath hitched and she let out a squeak of protest as Yoruichi's hands went to the front of her trousers and were quickly unbuttoned them. Before Soi could react the dark skinned woman's hand had delved inside her trousers, slipped past her panties, her fingers pressed against Soi's sex.

"If you want me to stop," Yoruichi said her voice husky. "Why are you so wet?'

Soi swallowed. Yoruichi's fingers slowly began to stroke her, gradually building speed. Soi tensed and pushed against Yoruichi, no longer sure if she was trying to escape or force herself closer to the Princess's body. She gasped and moaned, Yoruichi's free arm holding her steady. Yoruichi's movements slowed, she pulled Soi back; the younger girl's body arching against her, and pushed her middle finger inside Soi to the knuckle. Ignoring Soi's desperate whimpers that might have been in protest, Yoruichi forced a second finger inside and curled them. This time Soi cried out her small body curling forward as Yoruichi began to thrust her fingers hard into her.

Soi thumped her fist down on the bar top. She sucked air through clenched teeth and hissed as she tried to force herself to ignore the Goddess' ministrations. Her mind screamed in protest at what was clearly a blatant violation, but her body was betraying her. She was gasping for air, her top clinging to her skin and her legs threatening to give out on her. She gripped the edge of the bar tightly and pushed her rear back into Yoruichi's body; a guttural cry thundering out from deep in her throat.

_Oh gods, I'm going to…_

Her mind finally surrendered to what her body had long given into and welcomed the ecstasy that came with her climax. Shuddering she fell forward, her legs gave out on her and she would have fallen to the ground had Yoruichi not been holding her up. Yoruichi pulled her back and Soi's head fell against the taller woman's chest, panting she tried to focus; tried to bring herself back to reality. Yoruichi's hand moved from the inside of Soi's soaked panties. Dimly, her eyes coming back into focus, Soi tried to tilt her head far enough back so that she could look at Yoruichi, but felt herself stopped. She felt the wetness of Yoruichi's fingers against her chin, her lips and finally the Goddess forced her cum drenched fingers into Soi's mouth. Gagging at the sudden intrusion Soi buckled forward. Yoruichi ignored her and moved her fingers inside Soi's mouth; thrusting them further in causing Soi to choke. Tentatively, Soi reached up a hand and took hold of the dark wrist in front of her, holding it steady she sucked the fingers in her mouth trying not to cringe away, never much liking the taste of herself.

Yoruichi removed her fingers from Soi's mouth, her head falling against Soi's back. Soi remained still; she could feel Yoruichi's hot breath against her bare skin. Her eyes widened when she felt something unfamiliar and wet drip against her skin, Yoruichi seemed to shake against her and took a long shuddering breath, before pressing her full lips against Soi's back kissing her where the drip had been.

"Yoruichi…" Soi murmured.

"Shut up," was the quiet answer the Goddess's voice sounding so distant.

Yoruichi's arms dropped from Soi, who turned to face her. Neither said anything, Soi desperately wanted to look into those golden eyes, to see what was going on in the Goddess' mind. But Yoruichi backed away from her and turned her head. Soi closed the gap, moving closer to the taller woman, pulling her down and kissing her hard. Apparently Yoruichi needed no further encouragement, kissing Soi back forcefully and pulling the smaller girl tight against her.

They both stumbled back, hands everywhere, clothes discarded where they fell, forgotten in their desperation. Soi realised that they clearly weren't going to make it to the bedroom, Yoruichi directing them towards the large couch instead. She pushed Soi down, taking a moment to step out from her dress, and then lowered herself covering Soi's body with her own. Soi's fingers raked up and down Yoruichi's body, tracing over the lacy fabric of her bra wanting to free her from the constraint; to feel those magnificent breasts. Yoruichi took hold of Soi's wrists moving them from her own body and placing the Chinese girl's hands above her head, pinning them with one hand. Soi frowned in confusion but was quickly reassured by Yoruichi's lips against her own. Yoruichi trailed a finger down Soi's cheek, her eyes following its descent down the pale body, circling her navel and feeling the twitch of hard muscle beneath, before travelling ever lower.

Soi gasped. Her body arched practically off of the couch at the feel of Yoruichi's hand back between her legs. Yoruichi let go of her wrists and Soi immediately went to touch her girlfriend, to share the pleasure. Yoruichi slapped her hands away and shook her head. Disappointment filled Soi; she tried again her hands rising to touch Yoruichi above her. Once more Yoruichi pushed her away and Soi whined in frustration. Yoruichi silenced her with a kiss, her tongue forced through lips and assaulting Soi's senses. Soi moaned loudly into the Princess' mouth as skilled fingers teased her clit before delving inside her. Yoruichi broke the kiss, her lips trailing down from Soi's mouth and to her neck sucking the soft skin before going ever lower. Soi groaned as Yoruichi's hot kisses reached her breasts, her tongue flicking across an erect nipple before taking it in her mouth.

She wouldn't last long at this rate. Soi's body writhed beneath the Goddess's, her hips bucking against a pumping hand. She moaned loudly with every touch, every movement elicited a whispered gasp and nonsense that brought about by sheer lust, the Goddess's name repeated mantra like with each exhalation. She wanted it to last forever, this complete feeling of helplessness, and desperately wanted Yoruichi to slow down or it would be over too quickly.

All too soon it seemed to be over, Yoruichi stilled and Soi whimpered confusion and frustration washing over her. She looked down; Yoruichi was facing away from her, her hand unmoving and still between Soi's legs. Her shoulders twitched and her head dropped down. Soi's disappointment and confusion was quickly over ridden by concern. She shifted herself; Yoruichi withdrew her hand and grasped the back of the couch. Sitting up Soi ignoring the uncomfortable heat between her legs, and watched the usually confidant woman, unsure of what was going on. Yoruichi turned to face Soi her golden eyes flickering with uncertainty; Soi frowned as the doubt in those golden orbs was replaced by a look which Soi recognised as something she often saw reflected in her own eyes but was completely foreign to the Shihouin Princess; self-loathing.

Soi reached forward her hand going to Yoruichi's cheek and gently stroking it, feeling the heat of her earlier strike which had burned hot into the Goddess skin. She pulled Yoruichi towards her and brushed her lips against Yoruichi's. "It's okay," She said not really sure what actually was okay but it felt like the right thing to say. She cupped the other side of the goddess face and brought her down for a gentle kiss. She felt Yoruichi tremble against her, kiss her back only the once and then pull sharply away. The usually surefooted woman stumbled to her feet, took a single glance back towards Soi on the couch before fleeing. Soi heard the bathroom door open and slam shut, she winced at the noise and sunk back down into the emptiness of the couch and ran a hand through her hair trying to ignore how cold and very alone she was feeling.

* * *

**This is getting depressing... Oh well!**

**Thanks for reading and please tell leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	7. Strung Out

Strung Out

Some very inconsiderate person was hammering against the door. Grumbling, Yoruichi shuffled from her bedroom and across her apartment, swearing when she stubbed her toe painfully on a discarded shoe. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" she yelled wrenching the door open and preparing to give whoever it was hell.

Kuukaku stood holding a bag in one hand and her other raised and ready to batter the hell out of the door. "Yeah well if ya coming make sure yer clean up after yerself!"

"Screw you," Yoruichi rebutted, she ruffled her hair sleepily. "And what the hell you doing here so early?"

"Early? It's one in the afternoon," Kuukaku informed her striding past the sleepy woman. She dropped the bag she had brought with her and gave it a kick. "Those are yer things from Boob's place. Soi's are in there too."

"Thrills," Yoruichi yawned and pushed the door shut.

"Ya look like shit!"

"Thank you," It was probably true though. Yoruichi dragged her feet over to the bar and flumped down on one of the stools, scratching her chin and yawning again. She was dressed in sweats, her hair was awry to say the least and she still had last nights' make-up on now somewhat smeared across her face; she didn't exactly cut an elegant picture.

"Oh, and while it's on my mind," Kuukaku said indifferently and then cuffed the purple haired woman across the back of her head.

"What the hell?" Yoruichi yelled holding her head. "What're you hitting me for?"

"Cause you fucked off last night! I was worried, yer weren't answerin' yer phone!"

Yoruichi rubbed the back of her head and pouted. "That's no reason to assault me."

Kuukaku shook her head and tutted. She removed her dark, long and thick military style coat and tossed it over one of the empty stools. "So what happened then?" She demanded placing her hands on her hips.

Yoruichi noted that Kuukaku hadn't taken off her large boots; she was dressed in ripped jeans and two different ripped t-shirts that somehow managed to cover her body, though still showed a hint of bra. The Goddess couldn't help but marvel at Kuukaku's style, chances were that the Shiba woman had just chucked on whatever was at hand but she made it look like she'd spent hours meticulously planning her artfully ripped outfit. Finally Yoruichi answered. "I came home."

"No shit," Kuukaku dead panned. "Is the kid here?"

Drumming her fingers against the bar top Yoruichi shrugged.

"You don't know?" Kuukaku sighed loudly. "Guess Kisuke owes me some money. I told him you guys had a fight, but he wouldn't listen. Did she dump you?"

"No," Yoruichi used the bar top to turn herself on the stool to face Kuukaku. "She didn't dump me. And what makes you think we had a fight?"

"Cause you were trying to get it on with some random and she saw."

"Shit."

"Is what ya look like, now go get dressed."

"Too lazy."

"I'll make ya breakfast," Kuukaku said moving round the bar and into the kitchen area. "You really should go shower or something, wipe off the make-up and make ya self decent." Kuukaku looked at her concerned. "And maybe you should call the kid."

Yoruichi shrugged again and thought back to last night. It had been several hours before she had ventured out from the bathroom, and even then she had resolutely refused to check the main room to see if Soi was there, instead heading straight to her bedroom, thankful for the second door that connected her room to the bathroom. Soi hadn't been there so she had assumed that the younger girl had either gone home or chosen to sleep on the couch. Yoruichi had curled herself up in her own bed and desperately tried to fall asleep. There was no sign of Soi now so Yoruichi could only presume that she had gone home.

"Yer hopeless," Kuukaku pulled out a frying pan from a cupboard.

It took Yoruichi a few minutes to shift herself from the stool and shuffle her way into the bathroom. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand as she fumbled with the tap for the shower, not quite awake yet. Clearly Kuukaku had no intention of leaving anytime soon and it would probably be best if the Shihouin heiress woke up and functioned like a normal person.

Removing her clothes she kicked them away and stepped into the tub, and angling the shower head so that the hot stream hit her face on. She shuddered against the hot water and reached for the tap turning the heat up until it was nearly scorching her.

_Much better _

She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her long thick hair. She loved the feel of the scalding hot water against her skin, always feeling cleaner for the blistering heat. She ducked her head down and let the water run down her back shivering as it damn near burned her. Unbidden, her thoughts wandered to Soi, to last night and what she had been doing.

She placed her hand on the tiled surface in front of her and bit her lip. It hadn't really been her crowning moment practically forcing herself on the younger girl. She'd felt so numb when she had started, then empowered when she realised that Soi had on some level been enjoying it, and then she had felt sick when her thoughts had caught up with her actions.

_She should have hit me again_

Her hand rose to her cheek where Soi had struck her a sad smile on her face. Strangely she felt a little proud of Soi, proud that she had actually stood up for herself and proud that she had dared strike the princess. Yoruichi could only remember three other people having the balls to strike her, one of those was her father so didn't really count, and the other two had been Kaien and Kuukaku; the latter being the only one who could still get away with any display of violence towards the heiress. Mentally she added Soi to the list; she wouldn't hold it against the Chinese girl.

_I did deserve it_

Straightening up, Yoruichi stretched her arms up above her head and forced a brighter smile on her face. She turned the heat up even more letting the water sear away her sins; she wasn't one for self pity and was a great believer in washing away past recrimination.

Finally finished with her shower, dressed and at least partially presentable, Yoruichi strode form her bedroom a damp towel hooded over her head. She sniffed, something smelt tasty. Kuukaku was surprisingly good at cooking when she put her mind to it, not that it would have really mattered. Yoruichi had discovered long ago that her own idea of what constituted as edible was anything she could chew, and even then she wasn't too picky.

The heiress plunked herself down on a stool and smiled. "What are we having?" She asked picking up the chopsticks that Kuukaku had laid out and drumming them on the counter top.

"Nothin' special," Kuukaku replied a cigarette balanced on her bottom lip. "You've got shit all in the fridge. I just chucked what you had left in the pan and made an omelette of some description."

"Left over omelette, eh? Can't be that bad."

Kuukaku shrugged. "May be some cigarette ash in there too," She placed a plate in front of Yoruichi. "Coffee or milk?"

"Milk of course," Yoruichi eyed her breakfast. "It looks like you threw up in the pan."

"Maybe I did."

Shrugging, Yoruichi folded the omelette over until she could pick up the whole thing and downed it in a couple of bites. It actually wasn't that bad.

"Thought about chewing yer food?"

"Waste of time."

"I hope ya get indigestion."

Yoruichi grinned at her. "So, what's the plan for today?"

/\/\/\

"I don't know how you can eat that," Kuukaku wondered aloud staring at the dark skinned woman sitting opposite her. They were both sat outside a café, Kuukaku smoking a cigarette and holding a warm cup of coffee. "It's fuckin' freezin' out here."

Yoruichi didn't answer she just smiled and continued licking her ice cream. The only reason they were stuck outside was because Kuukaku had insisted on smoking and the café employed a strict no smoking policy. "Where's Kisuke?" She asked after finishing off her ice cream.

"He had work to do," Kuukaku answered.

"Ah," Yoruichi nodded. "What about Ganju, what's he up to?"

"I told him to go bother Kaien, I don't need the grief," Kuukaku stubbed out her cigarette. "He's been in trouble at school again, they called our folks in. They're pissed at me, sayin' that I'm not taking proper care of him." Kuukaku sighed. "I should have applied for legal guardianship when I had the chance."

"It's not too late," Yoruichi answered.

"He'll be eighteen in less than a year, there's not really much point. By the time we sorted out all the legal stuff he'd be an adult."

Ganju had lived with his elder sister since he was thirteen, neither he nor Kuukaku got on with their parents. Kuukaku had moved out when she was sixteen and had never looked back. Kaien had helped her set up on her own and she had worked hard to earn her freedom. A few years later Ganju had turned up on her doorstep and practically demanded to live with her, she had been unable to refuse and worked doubly hard to keep her little brother. Their parents had tried to convince Ganju to return home, they had even tried to force him legally and would have succeeded if Kaien hadn't of stepped in.

"Enough about me," Kuukaku jabbed her finger at Yoruichi. "You haven't told me about yer fight with the kid."

Yoruichi grimaced. "There's not much to tell."

"Bull!"

"She yelled at me, called me selfish, you know? The usual stuff."

Kuukaku raised an eyebrow. "The usual stuff? Did she smack ya one?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Looks like someone smacked you," She leant back in her chair her hands going behind her head and grinned. "She must'a been really pissed."

"Can we talk about something else?" Yoruichi asked.

"No. You looked miserable when I called round, yer still lookin' kinda miserable," clearly Kuukaku wasn't going to let up on this. "Now tell me what happened."

Sighing, Yoruichi lit up a cigarette of her own taking solace in the arid taste of tobacco and nicotine.

After taking a couple of drags she explained to Kuukaku what had happened, omitting certain events; like where she sexually assaulted her own girlfriend. Kuukaku smoked her way through, nodding along and grunting now and then. "... and that's pretty much it," Yoruichi finished. "It's not that big of a deal."

Kuukaku looked thoughtful, she opened her mouth and closed it and then shook her head. "Yer not telling me something."

"I told you everything."

"Is today international bullshit day or somethin'?" the younger woman roughly stubbed out her cigarette and stabbed her finger at her friend. "You've been spouting nowt but crap all day."

Yoruichi grunted in annoyance. "I told you everything."

Kuukaku threw her hands up. "Fine. But if that's all that happened why the hell you got this depressed look about you?"

"I don't have a depressed look about me."

Kuukaku stared at Yoruichi and opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then she closed it, and turned her head and sighed. She pulled the collar on her coat up, her face sinking down till half of it was covered. Yoruichi didn't like it when Kuukaku acted like this, it made her look vulnerable. Yoruichi always liked to think of Kuukaku as invulnerable and unmovable.

Not quite knowing what to say, Yoruichi opted to light another cigarette and study her surroundings. It was a dark and grey day which, she noted, reflected her mood quite well. Occasionally someone would stop and take a good long look at her and Kuukaku, sometimes in confusion, sometimes in recognition. She took note of them but didn't respond to their cheerful waves or excited pointing.

Opposite her; Kuukaku let out a long sigh. "We done here?"

"Yeah," Yoruichi answered. She pulled herself to her feet and stretched, her ciggie balanced on her lip. She waited while Kuukaku stood up and sorted herself out, lighting a cigarette and moving to Yoruichi's side. They set off together, Kuukaku had her hands stuffed in her pockets puffing away furiously on her cigarette, her trademark sneer absent from her face. Finally the silence became too much for the Shihouin heiress. "Okay," She said forcing her arm through Kuukaku's and pulling the wild woman to her. "Did something happen last night that I should know about?"

"Like what?" Kuukaku glanced at her.

"I dunno," Yoruichi shrugged and then sighed in a dramatic fashion. "If I'm a bullshitter today then you're a cryptic fuck. You didn't call round this morning to check on me, or to bring me back my clothes. Something's bothering you, something happened last night."

"I didn't call on you this morning at all," Kuukaku spat out her cigarette and turned sharply pulling Yoruichi with her. "It's the middle of the afternoon, jackass."

They had just turned into a park, it was strangely empty; Yoruichi thought that on a Saturday afternoon there would be more people out. Perhaps the cold weather had discouraged them. Kuukaku stopped and shook the dark skinned woman off of her. Yoruichi looked at her in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Okay, I did call round cause somethin's eating me. But when I saw you, I realised that somethin' was eating you too." Kuukaku ran her hand through her hair and ruffled it out. "Thing is, I think whatever is eatin' you is more important. Hopefully, you'll forgive me for this."

"For what?" In retrospect it was probably a stupid question. Kuukaku lurched forward and grabbed hold of Yoruichi's coat and dragged the Shihouin princess towards her. Surprise stopped the older woman from acting and it wasn't until she felt Kuukaku's hand in her pocket that she reacted, desperately trying to pull away. To her dismay, Kuukaku was a lot stronger than her easily keeping Yoruichi close enough to continue her search.

"Aha!" Kuukaku crowed in triumph pulling out Yoruichi's cell phone. She released Yoruichi and stepped back an exultant look on her face.

"You could have just asked," Yoruichi said straightening out her coat. "Who're you calling?"

"Who do ya think?"

It took Yoruichi a moment to realise who Kuukaku meant. "S-Soi? You're calling Soi?"

"I'm gonna sort out this little mess of yours."

"No you're not!" It was childish and futile but Yoruichi still lunged towards the taller woman and still tried to grab her phone. When they had been children they had play fought all the time and Yoruichi had easily beaten the Shiba girl, that was until Kuukaku had had a growth spurt and had then easily dominated Yoruichi beating her in any and all skirmishes. Once Yoruichi had realised that she was physically weaker then Kuukaku she had stopped picking fights with her, well mostly; she was much faster than Kuukaku and could easily dodge her attacks. The Goddess had hoped that her speed would enable her to easily snatch the phone from Kuukaku's hand but clearly the younger woman had anticipated this and turned so her back faced the Goddess.

Yoruichi tried to reach over Kuukaku's back, practically climbing up onto her. Kuukaku turned sharply tipping Yoruichi off of her. When Yoruichi tried again Kuukaku pulled her tightly into a headlock pinning the older woman to her side.

"Gerroff!" Yoruichi growled.

Kuukaku just laughed at her. "It's ringing," She said before chucking Yoruichi to the ground.

The Goddess fell in an undignified heap, she turned and sat on the ground and looked up at Kuukaku. Yoruichi felt her heart plummet stomach wards as she saw her cell phone pressed against the Shiba woman's ear. It wasn't that she didn't want to speak to Soi; it was just that it felt too early. Besides, it was always the Chinese girl who made the first move in these situations.

A triumphant grin spread across Kuukaku's face. "Soi! How ya doin'?" there was a pause. "It's Kuukaku you stupid fuck! ...I stole her phone." Kuukaku laughed. "Do you kiss ya mother with that mouth? Uh huh, uh huh. You're kinda angry huh?" She frowned. "Whatever. Shut up. Yoruichi wants to talk to you." Kuukaku tossed the phone down to Yoruichi who caught it.

Slowly, Yoruichi lifted the phone to her ear; she pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. "Hey, Soi," She said her voice strained.

"… hey,"

Well that wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. "So, uh, how are you?" Yoruichi felt herself cringe at her pointless question. "That was a stupid question," She said quickly. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Look, um, where are you?"

"Out."

"Okay."

Silence.

Yoruichi chewed on her lip. Soi wasn't really giving her anything to work with, not that Yoruichi could blame her. Frankly, it was a minor miracle that the younger girl had answered her cell at all. There was no helping it, Yoruichi took yet another deep breath and braced herself. "We need to talk."

She heard Soi sigh. "Agreed."

"Right, well, could you meet me back at mine?"

"I'm a little busy right now."

"Oh," Yoruichi hadn't expected that. Naively she had assumed that Soi would be sitting at home in the mother of all flunks. It actually hadn't occurred to her that Soi might have been out, that she might actually be doing something. Now that she listened properly Yoruichi could hear people talking on Soi's end of the line, she was probably in a café or bar or somewhere enclosed with a group of people. Weirdly, the thought of Soi socialising without her didn't sit right, it made her feel angry. Or jealous. She stored that disturbing thought away to be analysed at a later date.

Yoruichi cleared her throat. "When are you going to be free?"

"I shouldn't be too long," Soi answered. "Give me an hour or so."

"Okay. Uh, what are you doing?"

Soi didn't reply at first. "I'm out."

"Right."

Silence again. _Out where? _Yoruichi's mind screamed. _Out with who? _She pinched the bridge of her nose again, hard.

"You alright?" Soi asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," the Goddess replied. "I'll see you in an hour."

"Right," Soi hung up.

Yoruichi stared at her phone and then flipped the lid shut and dropped it on the ground. "Urgh!" She held her head in her hands. "Dammit!" She bounced her heel hard off of the ground. "She's out somewhere, she's busy doing something. She's never out, she never just does something. And she never fucking makes me wait to see her!" The Goddess kicked her heel against the ground again and dropped her head to her knees and pressed her face against her legs. She looked up when she heard Kuukaku start cackling with maniacal glee. "What's so fucking funny?" Yoruichi demanded.

Kuukaku looked down at her. "You are," She replied. "Look at you; sitting in the dirt and getting all angry over a girl. It's hilarious!"

Yoruichi glared at her. "I don't see what's so funny."

"You wouldn't," Kuukaku smiled. Alarm bells went off in Yoruichi's head, that wasn't a trademark Kuukaku sneer, it wasn't even a grin; it was an indulgent, genuine and almost gentle smile. Yoruichi wasn't sure if she'd ever seen Kuukaku smile like that, at least not at her.

"Care to enlighten me?"

Kuukaku shook her head. "Nah, I'll leave it for you to figure out."

Slowly Yoruichi climbed to her feet and dusted herself off. "Kuukaku?"

"Yeah?"

The Goddess stooped down and snatched her cell from the ground. "Why'd you do that?" she enquired her voice quiet.

"Do what?"

Yoruichi rubbed the back of her head where her friend had cuffed her earlier. "Why'd you make me talk to Soi?"

"Cause you would'a left it till it was too late."

"Oh," It wasn't really the answer Yoruichi was looking for. "You don't like Soi, what would it have mattered to you if we'd broken up?"

Kuukaku frowned. "Would you rather you guys had broken up? You still might yet."

"No, I don't want things to end with her."

"Then what ya complainin' about?"

"Because I don't understand why you care?"

Kuukaku sighed in exasperation. "Cause yer my friend and I don't want to see yer lookin' miserable," she moved closer to Yoruichi and ducked down slightly to look the Goddess in the eyes. "Depression doesn't suit ya." She stated calmly. "Now let me ask you a question. Does Soi make you happy?"

"Huh?"

"You heard; does Soi make you happy?"

Yoruichi smiled. "Yes."

Kuukaku grinned, nodded and then cuffed Yoruichi across the side of the head. "Then what the fuck _are _ya whining about?"

"Stop hitting me!"

"I'm knockin' sense into that thick head o'yours!"

Yoruichi rubbed the side of her head. "Christ, you'll cause brain damage."

"Yoruichi, if Soi makes you happy then you should hold onto that. It doesn't matter if I like her or not, it doesn't matter if Kisuke likes her; he does in case ya wonderin'. All that matters is that she makes you happy and how you feel about her." Kuukaku said assuming that big sisterly tone she reserved for those moments when she made more sense than the rest of her friends. She looked Yoruichi directly in the eye and smiled. "Yoruichi, you deserve to be happy. Remember that, okay?" The younger woman turned from her friend and started walking away. She stopped and turned to face Yoruichi again. "And let me appeal to your selfish nature, she'll make you all the happier if you make her happy." She laughed. "Fuck Yoruichi, I never thought I'd see the fucking day!" She threw her head back and laughed all the harder. "You stupid bitch, I can't wait to tell Kisuke." Kuukaku waved to Yoruichi and walked off laughing all the while.

Yoruichi watched her friend walk away. Clearly Kuukaku had just suffered a massive aneurism, or contracted early onset Alzheimer's since she was making about as much sense as an Alzheimer sufferer. The Goddess sighed and stuffed her hands into her coat pockets, and followed the path Kuukaku had taken, not that she'd catch up to her friend who was probably in a taxi by now and heading home to tell Kisuke whatever she was planning on telling him. It wouldn't take Yoruichi long to get back to her apartment, she was close by. It would probably be best that she didn't make Soi wait for her. Chewing her lip she started going over in her head what she was going to say to Soi, she supposed that an apology would be best; yet when she thought about it she wasn't actually sure what she should be apologising for.

* * *

**Yay me, another chapter. **

**Apologies in advance, I know that you were all probably looking forward to Yoruichi and Soi having a big old fight/make-up session**. **Yoruichi needed time to get her shit together, I'm not all that convinced she's actually got it together yet; but it's progress. Hopefully Soi's off somewhere cultivating a spine.**

**I love writing Kuukaku, can you tell? She is made of awesome!**

**A note on Kuukaku being stronger than Yoruichi; obviously in canon Yoruichi is way, way stronger than Kuukaku but in this AU universe she isn't. Kuukaku is taller and heavier than Yoruichi, so she would in all probability be physically stronger too. **

**Thank you for reading, please leave a review and tell me what you think; even if you hated it.**


	8. Chasing the Light

**So this underwent so many re-writes that I'm personally sick of it. This fics recently undergone a massive plot overhaul, okay that's an exaggeration, but I have changed certain elements. Personally I think it'll be better this way (I wouldn't have done it otherwise) and hopefully you guys will love it too. **

**Since I've changed some elements, Crimsongaze will be happy to know that I have no longer ruined part of the story for her. **

**Enough from me, on with the chapter!**

**

* * *

**

Chasing the Light

Hissing through her teeth, Soi slowly made her way towards the Eleventh bar. She kept her right arm tight against her body it throbbed with every step she took, a dull ache in her left thigh wasn't quite bad enough to make her limp but hurt enough to constantly grate on her consciousness. She stopped a moment to adjust herself. Using her left hand to support her right elbow she gently angled it away from her body; it was already swollen. It was an old nagging injury; several months ago she had wrenched her elbow while trying to pull herself up a wall. Every so often she managed to hurt it again, usually while sparring or simply by trying to lift too much weight. Today she had managed to give it a knock that had in all probability worsened it to a stage where she should probably forgo any form of exercise for it.

She had been out jogging, the previous night had been cold and several patches of ice were spread throughout the park; she hadn't been paying attention. It was her own fault; she'd ignored her surroundings and slipped. Her instincts taking over she had tried to roll. Her right arm taking the brunt of her body weight, unfortunately her elbow hadn't been strong enough to handle her body weight and had collapsed under her. She had twisted it and landed heavily.

The Eleventh bar had been the closest place for her to go for help. She hated hospitals and didn't deem the injury severe enough to warrant medical attention anyways. Grimacing against the pain she soldiered on, nearly smiling when she saw Ikkaku's car parked outside the bar. She'd been worried that no one would be in, or that only Kenpachi would be; chances were he'd just tell her to fuck off.

It hadn't been a great morning so far...

/\/\/\

_Soi opened her eyes slowly, one arm was trapped beneath her body and completely numb, the other was free and hugging a cushion tight to her. Shifting, she rolled onto her back and flung her working arm over her eyes before groaning. It felt as though her brain was swollen and pressing against the inside of her skull. She rubbed at her eyes and winced, and then she froze. _

"_Oh for fucks sake..." She muttered before forcing herself to sit up. She was naked. "Wonderful." With great effort she rolled off of the couch and landed on all fours on the ground. Big mistake, the sudden movement caused her stomach to lurch and she was nearly sick right there. Eventually, after much gagging and swallowing, she managed to climb to her feet. Her clothes appeared to be strewn about the room, she gathered her trousers and what she assumed was her top and made a valiant effort at getting dressed. The trousers were easy to navigate, the top not so much and she was forced to give up and drop it back on the floor. Thankfully Yoruichi had left a shirt lying across the back of the couch and Soi had pilfered it, favouring the larger garment than to walking around the apartment half-naked. At this point she had taken a moment to rock unsteadily on the heels of her feet, her world was disconcertingly unbalanced. After a moment of swaying she stumbled to the bathroom. Soi had discovered several years ago that if she mixed her drinks, even if she only deviated the once and no matter how little she drank, she'd have to suffer a terrible hangover. Which made her wonder why she had decided it would be a good idea to do so last night. _

_The bathroom was warm and exactly the temperature she didn't need right no. She soldiered on regardless, dropping to her knees in front of the toilet to partake in her usual hangover ritual; a vigorous course of vomiting followed by immediate rehydration. Afterward, and feeling much better, she shuffled to the kitchen and made herself a coffee. The alcohol haze was lifting from her mind and she set about slowly piecing together the puzzle of the previous night. _

_She wished she hadn't bothered. She wished that the previous night could have remained lost to her consciousness that it had never happened. Childishly she considered pretending that she couldn't remember, that the alcohol had blacked it from her mind; but she knew that it wouldn't work. She hadn't been that drunk, she'd hardly been drunk at all, a little bit tipsy was all; she wasn't half the lightweight that Yoruichi was. There was no way she could pretend that she didn't remember, Yoruichi would know. _

_Slowly her head dropped to her arms and she groaned. Her masochistic mind played her and Yoruichi's fight over and over again in her mind. She desperately wanted it to stop, but was afraid to force the memory form her mind because that would only bring another memory to the fore front of her mind; a much darker memory. She tensed as her treacherous mind took her to the events after the fight. _

_She felt sick again._

_She picked herself up from the stool she was sitting on and slowly made her way towards the Goddess' bedroom, each step heavy and wooden. After what almost felt like an eternity she found her fingers curling round the handle on the door. She paused and took a moment to steady herself. She needed to make sure that she was doing the right thing, that she had considered all the facts. Was she sure of what had happened last night?_

Coward

_She could just walk away? Leave and never come back. _

Coward

_It would be a fitting end to such a dysfunctional relationship. Swallowing she half turned away from the door fully intent on fleeing but found herself stopped. Her body jerked as something pulled hard on the shirt she was wearing. For a fearful second she thought that she had been caught, that Yoruichi was awake and dragging her back. She spun and felt the shirt bunch and pull again. The hem was caught and twisted on the door handle. She stared at it, her shaking hand moved to unwind the fabric. She stepped back and hung her head in shame._

Spineless coward

_She closed her eyes, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth; once, twice and a third time for good measure. She forced herself to calm. Her hand, trembling slightly, gripped the silver handle and she pushed the door open and stepped inside._

_The room was dark, only the barest hint of light escaped through hastily closed blinds. Soi stepped further inside, although the rest of the apartment was warm it felt cold in here. She turned to face the bed._

_She felt herself tense again, she moved forward automatically and stopped a few feet away from the large bed and stared. She had expected to find Yoruichi asleep, snoring her way through her problems like she usually did. Yoruichi was asleep, but rather than being flung out across the bed in her usual manner she was curled in the very centre of the bed hugging her knees up close to her body. At some point in the night she must have kicked the covers off of the bed or perhaps she hadn't bothered with them in the first place since she was shaking with the cold. She looked strangely small and child-like curled up like that, shivering her breath hissing through her teeth. _

_Soi took a step back, her hands bunching into fists and her eyes squeezing closed. She remembered Yoruichi's strong arms holding her down, the feel of the Goddess' body pressed tight against her own breath hot on her bare skin. She remembered the feeling of complete helplessness. Of desperately wanting her to stop, wanting to be released, wanting to be held and..._

_Soi violently shook her head, confusion lacing her thoughts. _

_She remembered Yoruichi shuddering against her. Had she kissed Yoruichi? She recalled stroking a dark cheek, the bruise she had caused burning her own hand. Yoruichi had trembled against her, had pulled away and fled. _

_Worst of all Soi remembered the look in those golden eyes._

_The Chinese girl opened her own eyes and forced herself to look down on the woman in front of her. Yoruichi looked so fragile and vulnerable curled in the foetal position and drowning in a sea of white. Soi took another step back and looked away. She switched to auto-pilot; carefully she picked the covers from the floor and draped them over the sleeping woman. She checked the window and finding it open closed it, satisfied that she was leaving the room in slightly more hospitable conditions she left._

/\/\/\

Soi's small hand thudded against the large door of the Eleventh bar, each time she beat her fist against the wood a thrum of pain would vibrate through her injured arm. She gave the door a kick and staggered back.

"You know Kenpachi isn't in, right?"

She spun round. Madarame Ikkaku was leaning against his car, his arms folded against his chest. Unbelievably, he was dressed in a short sleeved shirt, the cold weather clearly not affecting him whatsoever. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her, at least she thought he was looking at her; he was wearing dark sunglasses and she couldn't see his eyes.

"Clearly not otherwise I wouldn't be knocking," She replied feeling annoyed and a little bit foolish. "Do you have the keys?"

"Yup," He pulled them from his pocket and smiled. "Do you want in?"

"That would be nice."

"Why?"

"Because I have a hunch that Nazi gold is buried here," She quipped back. "Why the fuck does it matter?"

"Temper, temper," The bald man pushed himself away from his car and sauntered up to her. "You been fighting?"

"No."

"Did you lose?"

"I haven't been fighting," She snarled. "I was out running and fell."

"Huh?" He cocked his head to the side. "Unlucky." He pushed her roughly out of the way and inserted the key into the lock. "Go on in, the alarm isn't set."

Gritting her teeth against the pain in her arm she walked in. It was strange seeing the bar bathed in natural light; she was used to seeing the dull glow of the lights that helped hide the state of the place. With daylight she could make out exactly where the real damages was, and which tables were bolted to the ground.

"So, you tripped up," Ikkaku said from behind her. "Break anything? The way you're holding your arm I wouldn't be surprised."

She shook her head. "It's just bruised, it's an old injury. I just need some ice and to sit down for a while."

"Be my guest," Ikkaku walked past her and went behind the bar. "Need the first aid kit?"

"We have a first aid kit?"

"Somewhere," He answered looking about the bar. "Here it is."

Soi walked over to the bar and looked down at the small battered box that Ikkaku had retrieved from behind the bar. He opened it and Soi couldn't help but roll her eyes, it was filled with crayons.

"Guess Yachiru claimed this," she said.

"Looks that way," he confirmed. "I'll go get you some ice. Take a seat." He turned to head towards the cellar and then stopped. "Oh, and Yumichika's about here somewhere, so don't be surprised if he makes an appearance."

"Wonderful," She muttered. She did as he told her though, sitting down at the nearest table and closing her eyes. It didn't take Ikkaku long to return with a bag filled with ice, he sat down opposite her and wrapped the ice bag in a towel, handing it over to her. Gratefully she took it and pressed it against her elbow, hissing at the contact.

"It's a good job you didn't get those injuries in a fight," He told her. "You'd have lost your job here. We don't have any room for staff that can't defend themselves." He took a pack of cigarettes out from his pocket and opened them. Pulling put a single cigarette he tapped it against the packet a few times before sticking it in his mouth and lighting it. His lighter was worn but expensive looking; he flicked the lid of it open and close several times as he watched her. "It isn't just about defending yourself though; you need to be able to throw in the offensive too."

"Is there a point to your story?"

He took the cigarette from his mouth and flicked it; ash floated down and littered the table between them. "I ain't ever seen you fight."

"I don't care," She replied. "Kenpachi wouldn't have given me the job if he didn't think I was up to it."

"You got the job because you came with recommendations," Ikkaku said. "Shunsui, Ukitake and your benefactor all said that you could handle it. Now," He leant back in his seat placing his hands behind his head. "I'm not saying a woman can't fight as well as a man, hell I've seen Tatsuki-Chan kick guys twice her size ass. I've seen your benefactor put a guy through a door. But you, well I'm not too sure you can cut it in a real fight."

Soi drew her teeth back in a snarl. His condescending tone set her on edge, his relaxed pose showed that he felt absolutely no threat from her and his continued use of the word benefactor to describe Yoruichi made her angrier than she had felt in months and it really wasn't a good day to be ticking her off. "Any more problems with me you'd like to spit out?" She demanded.

He removed his sunglasses and folded them hooking them over his shirt collar. "I only have one problem with you," He said calmly. "You're all bark and no bite."

She flung the ice in her hand straight into his face and launched herself from the chair and over the table, injuries be damned, she'd fucking kill him! Her left arm stretched out and seized the front of his shirt and she used the momentum from her jump to push him backwards and to the ground, her thigh and arm screaming in protest. She saw the shock on his face as his back hit the ground, her feet landing either side of him. Her right arm went straight down towards his exposed throat but jolted to a stop and she cried out in pain. He had grabbed hold of her injured elbow, his fingers digging into the tender bruised flesh.

"Not very smart," He said coolly. "Trying to fight me when you're injured like that."

"Fuck you!" She spat.

"Please do," he replied smugly.

She punched him with a left hook. He released her arm and shoved her back with his foot and she went into the table behind her. When she had recovered he was on his feet and grinning at her, a thin trail of blood leaking from his nose.

"You know," he said wiping the blood away with the back of his hand. "You hit like a girl."

She spun on her heel, her left leg curving round high towards his head. He blocked it but was completely unprepared for her following kick from her right leg which caught him hard in the side. He stumbled and she lashed out with her feet, pivoting on her heels always keeping one foot firmly on the ground and the other in the air on the offensive. He dodged back from her. Slapping her kicks away when he could and ducking and weaving where he needed to.

He caught one of her legs tightly against his body and stepped sharply back pulling her off balance. He threw her trapped leg round causing her to whirl round. Before she'd made a full rotation she felt his arms wrap tightly around her from behind; pinning her arms to her body. With ease he lifted her off of the ground, her kegs kicked out at the air. He turned and her foot contacted with the bar. He gripped her tighter squeezing the air from her lungs and crushing her elbow into her body. Her flailing legs kicked into the bar again and this time she grinned and kicked simultaneously off from the bar propelling them both backwards. Ikkaku lost his footing and they both went down. His arms released her as she fell on him crushing the wind from him; she rolled backwards and landed nimbly on her feet. Not even taking a moment to consider what her next action would be she charged forward all rage and fury and roaring frustration. She didn't know how it happened, she had no idea what he did, but somehow the world spun upside down for a moment and then the floor came crashing up to meet her.

She screamed out but felt strong arms pin her down. Ikkaku was above her, one arm holding both hers down above her head; he was sitting on her legs. She couldn't move. He smiled down at her. "You lose," He said at last. "Good job you're not my type, I have you in a very precarious position."

She wanted to scream at him but felt drained all of a sudden all the fight leaving her system. "Let me up," she said breathing heavily.

He shrugged and let go of her hands and climbed to his feet. "Do you feel better for that?"

She paused and looked up at him. "Yeah," She answered honestly. "I do."

"Good. Now get up."

She did as she was told and gingerly climbed to her feet, wincing; her whole body ached now. Ikkaku didn't say another word, he simply handed her the ice back and sat back down. She followed suit, picking up her tipped over chair and sitting on it. "So, what was that for?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"You looked like you need to vent," he replied. "Don't go telling me what your problems are though. I don't care." He pulled his cigarettes back out of his pocket, the packet was crushed and he fished out a wonky ciggie. "But if you're distracted then you won't be able to do your job. What if we got some sort of loony in here that started tearin' up the joint?"

"I'm sure you or Kenpachi would take care of it."

He smiled. "Probably. But what if we're not around? This place attracts idiots who think they have something to prove. We always have to be stronger than them. If you're phasing out then you're no good to us." He lit his cigarette. "You got problems then take em out on your benefactor. That's what she's there for, right?"

"Don't call her my benefactor."

He grinned. "That's what she is though, isn't she? Your patron. She may as well put a leash on you and enter you in a –"

"Shut up!" Soi screamed at him.

He stared at her wide eyed. "Alright, calm down." Taking the cigarette from his mouth he held it out to her. "Smoke this and fuck off. Your shift doesn't start till tonight." She took the cigarette from him. He nodded and climbed to his feet. "I'm going to go find Yumichika; you'd better not be here when we get back." He walked away.

Soi stubbed out the cigarette on the bar top. Her elbow was throbbing now, the pain etching through her whole arm. She closed her eyes and leant her head back, feeling the strain on her neck she rubbed it with her hand.

She remembered Yoruichi's fingers splayed over her throat.

_What should I do?_

Sighing she sat straight and removed the ice bag. Her arm was bruised from wrist to bicep, her elbow a dark purple-blue. She started when she felt her cell vibrate in her pocket. Retrieving it from her pocket she was dismayed to see that the screen was broken. It could be anyone calling, but she could hardly ignore it. What if it was her parents? She slid the lid up and held it to her ear.

"Yeah?" She said hoping that it was someone from college or one of her brothers.

"Soi!" Called out a brash voice. "how ya doin'?"

Soi frowned. "Who's this?"

"It's Kuukaku, you stupid fuck!"

_Oh great..._

"How did you get my number? Did Yoruichi give it to you?"

"I stole her phone," Kuukaku replied in a normal tone that suggested stealing was an everyday occurrence between her and Yoruichi.

"What the fuck do you want?" Soi demanded.

Kuukaku laughed. "Do you kiss ya mother with that mouth?"

"Get fucked, Shiba!" Soi hissed. "I don't know what you're trying to do here but I –"

"Uh huh,"

"- don't want to talk to you or to Yoruichi. The pair of you can go play your – "

"Uh huh,"

" – stupid fucking games with someone else!"

"You're kinda angry, huh?" If anything the Shiba woman sounded amused.

"I don't have anything to say to you or to-"

"Whatever."

"I'm hangin-"

"Shut up," Kuukaku cut in. "Yoruichi wants to talk to you."

"Wait!" Soi called out but knew that it was too late.

_Hang up, hang up, hang up_

She didn't. She stayed on the phone pressing it tightly to her ear, her heart somewhere in her throat.

"Hey Soi," Yoruichi said her voice sounding odd, hoarser than usual.

Soi swallowed. "... hey,"

What was she supposed to say? She was completely unprepared for this conversation. She could feel herself trembling; butterflies were dancing in her stomach.

"So, uh, how are you?" Yoruichi asked.

Soi's jaw dropped. She felt anger surge in her that Yoruichi had the gall to ask such a pointless and loaded question. She was about to shout all her fury out on the Goddess when Yoruichi continued.

"That was a stupid question," She said quickly. "Look," she sighed. "Where are you?"

Still angry, Soi didn't feel like giving Yoruichi the answer. "Out," she stated instead.

"Okay."

Neither of them spoke. Soi waited, she was a little interested in what Yoruichi had to say for herself and was also enjoying the fact that the older woman was clearly out of her comfort zone.

"We need to talk."

_Oh..._

She didn't like those words, or the tone they were spoken in. What little satisfaction Soi had been feeling from Yoruichi's discomfort was now drowned in blind panic. She gripped the edge of the table with her free hand and forced herself to speak.

"Agreed," Somehow she had managed to keep her voice level.

"Right, well, could you meet me back at mine?" Yoruichi asked.

It was too quick, she needed time to think. "I'm a little busy right now." She cringed at the lie. Behind her the bar door banged open and Ikkaku and Yumichika sauntered in, the latter talking loudly. Soi pressed her hand against her ear so that she'd be able to hear Yoruichi over the din they were making.

"Oh."

Did she sound disappointed? A little shocked? Soi couldn't help but feel slightly satisfied at that.

"What the hell you still doing here?" Ikkaku asked loudly.

Soi ignored him.

She heard Yoruichi cough. "When are you going to be free?" she asked, her voice sounding higher than usual.

"I shouldn't be too long. Give me an hour or so."

"Okay," Yoruichi's seemed a little brighter on this. "Uh, what are you doing?"

_Why do you care?_

"I'm out," Soi answered forcing her voice into a neutral tone.

"Right."

Neither of them spoke. Soi thought she could hear Yoruichi breathing heavily.

"You all right?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Yoruichi replied thickly. "I'll see you in an hour."

"Right," Soi hung up and dropped her phone on the table. "Fuck!" She kicked the table.

Ikkaku and Yumichika stared at her. "I'll go make coffee," Ikkaku said to Yumichika. "You can field this one."

/\/\/\

Soi was thankful to leave the Eleventh bar. If Ikkaku's idea of helping someone was to get into a fight with them, then Yumichika's was to console them on their lack of beauty. The pair had kept her there for over an hour babbling away about absolutely nothing. Now she was risking running late and also hadn't had time to actually think over what she was going to say to Yoruichi.

She was going to be late at this rate. The Eleventh bar was too far from Yoruichi's apartment, it would probably take her another half hour just to walk there. She quick walked, weaving between the crowd of people milling about, keeping her arm tucked close to her body. It was no good. The streets were just too crowded, slowing her progress. She slowed to a stop so that she could consider her next move. A taxi would be the most sensible option if she wanted to make it to Yoruichi's in good time.

_If I want to make it there at all, _She thought. _Do I?_

She chewed on her lip and thought back to last night. What could they say? As much as Soi wanted to blame Yoruichi for the whole thing she knew she couldn't. She remembered the feel of the Goddess pressed against her and Soi swallowed.

_I'm not angry, _She realised. And she wasn't, instead she felt nothing but shame. She was ashamed at her own weakness, her own neediness and lust.

Soi searched her pockets in the vague hope that she'd have some money. All she had was her phone and an old receipt, she sighed. She was wearing her cargo pants that she usually wore for Parkour jumping. She rarely carried anything with her when she was out running. She slipped her hands into her back pockets and slumped slightly. She froze, her left hand brushed against something unmistakably crisp and made of paper. Slowly, she pulled out the foreign object and stared at it; it was a brand new 5000 Yen note. Since when did she carry that much money in her pocket?

Soi smiled warmly. "Such a fucking idiot," She murmured. Well no, not an idiot, but not very subtle with her helping hand either. It was enough to help Soi with her groceries and other things, but small enough that Soi probably wouldn't think it too odd to have been left in her back pocket. It was easily enough for a taxi to the Heiress apartment. Soi wasn't usually one for believing in signs; but somewhere between breaking her cell and somehow having enough money for a taxi she could possibly be converted.

/\/\/\

Yoruichi slouched back on her couch, her feet resting on the coffee table occasionally tapping along to the tune she plucked out on the worn old guitar resting on her lap. It had been her first guitar, once belonging to Kaien she had won it off of him after thrashing him at a computer game. He had been livid that he'd actually lost, and to a girl as well which only added insult to injury. He'd been adamant that Yoruichi wouldn't be able to learn how to play it which had led to another bet. Like so many other things in her life, the Goddess had mastered how to play the guitar with ease. She wasn't entirely sure if Kaien had ever forgiven her; she'd made him give her a lift to school every day for a full month and had also made him carry her bag. She smiled at the memory. It had been worth the rumours of them dating just to see the usually easy going Shiba Kaien in such a flunk.

Her eyes turned to the clock on the wall. Soi was running late, it had been nearly two hours since Yoruichi had called. She wasn't too worried though, Soi always made good on her promises and she hadn't really specified how long 'or so' was. Yoruichi leant her head back against the couch and let the fingers of her left hand dance up the frets while her thumb brushed against the strings, it was awkward since she was left handed but he'd long ago grown used to it. She closed her eyes and let the slow melody she was strumming wash over her. Her eyes snapped open when she heard a key in the door. Chucking the guitar down, she leapt to her feet and bounded over to the door and wrenched it open. Soi all but fell through the suddenly open door.

"Shit! Are you trying to kill me?" She asked her eyes wide.

"Sorry," Yoruichi apologised. She waved the younger girl in and closed the door. "I'm just kinda antsy. I've been doing a lot of thinking and – holy shit! What happened to you?" Yoruichi stared down at Soi in shock.

"Huh?" Soi said looking perplexed.

"What happened to you?" Yoruichi repeated. Soi looked terrifyingly like she'd gotten into a fight and lost quite badly. Her hair was mussed up one of her braids having come loose; her left cheek was grazed and smudged with dry blood and most worryingly of all she was holding her right arm close to her body, cradling it.

"Oh, I fell," Soi replied with an indifferent shrug.

"You fell?" Yoruichi intoned not quite believing the lack of concern Soi was showing herself. _Calm down _Yoruichi mentally told herself. _She's clearly alright. Otherwise she'd have gone to hospital like a normal sensible person. _Of course Soi often showed a remarkable lack of common sense. "Right, well, go sit down. I'll get the first aid kit."

"I'm fine."

Yoruichi stared at her in disbelief. "You don't look fine."

Soi looked down at her feet. Slowly she stepped out of her shoes and gently shoved them over to the door. Looking back up to Yoruichi she opened her mouth as though she was going to say something but clearly thought better of it. She shrugged and walked over to the couch sitting down.

Yoruichi sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "How far did you fall?" She asked walking into the kitchen and rummaging through a cupboard looking for the first aid kit her assistant had insisted she own.

"Not too far," Soi replied. "I'm pretty sure it looks worse than it is."

Finding the first aid kit Yoruichi made her way over to Soi. She sat down on the coffee table and faced the small girl sitting opposite her. "I'd rather you didn't go jumping off of buildings."

"And I'd rather you didn't smoke."

"Touché," Yoruichi smiled and held out her hand. "Give me your arm."

Silently, and with only the slightest of pouts, Soi held her injured arm out for Yoruichi. "Since when did you know first aid?"

"Hey, I was a professional athlete, you learn how to look after yourself," She slowly wrapped a bandage round the bruised and swollen elbow. "I'm surprised you don't know any first aid. I mean; you're a black belt in a ridiculous amount of martial arts but you don't know what to do with a sprained ankle. Somewhere along the line I'd have thought that you'd have learnt at least the basics. There." Yoruichi leant back and admired her own handiwork. "Don't go lifting anything heavy or leaning on it, doctors orders." She reached forward to brush her fingers against Soi's cheek, but the younger girl flinched back and away from her. Yoruichi froze, her hand hung between them; slowly she withdrew it and placed it flat on her thigh. She bit her lip and looked away, all too aware of the awkward air between them.

Soi shifted back on the couch and further away from Yoruichi. The silence seemed to stretch on for an agonising amount of time. Finally Soi broke it. "You wanted to talk," She said her voice quiet.

"Yeah," Yoruichi said her voice slightly hoarse, her throat felt very dry all of a sudden. She licked her lips and swallowed trying to will some moisture into her mouth. "Last night," She started turning to face Soi. "Well, I'm not proud of it to say the least."

"Which part of it?"

Yoruichi winced. "All of it," She replied in a hushed voice. She took a deep calming breath. "Look, I can admit that I probably shouldn't have gone off and danced with someone else, but you don't really leave me many options on that front. Let me finish," Yoruichi said quickly holding up her hand to silence Soi who had opened her mouth obviously about to protest. "You can yell at me once I'm done explaining myself, deal?"

"Fine," Soi nodded.

"Good," Yoruichi took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I don't think you've ever danced with me, and I mean ever. It probably does make me a bad girlfriend going off and leaving you whenever we go out somewhere, but I get bored just sitting round talking." Soi had a pained look on her face and she looked away from Yoruichi who continued talking. "I mean we go out to socialize right? I like meeting new people, that doesn't mean that I'd rather be with them then you just that at that moment I want to try something new."

"Or someone new," Soi muttered under her breath.

Yoruichi flinched. "Low blow," she mumbled sliding back on the table putting more distance between her and Soi. "I don't have the best track record when it comes to being faithful, we ended pretty badly last time and I know that I was to blame for that. I'm not going to deny it. But," She leant forward and looked Soi dead in the eye. "I really am trying this time."

Soi sighed. "I know you are," she edged forward on the couch. "What about when we got back from the club?"

This was the part Yoruichi had been dreading. Her insides went cold and she wrapped her arms round herself. Soi was staring at her; those icy grey eyes seemed to be looking right through her. Yoruichi bounced her knees nervously her fingers fidgeting with the fabric of her top.

_What is wrong with me? _She wondered. _Why am I so nervous? I never get nervous._

Now she felt annoyed with herself. She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out so she closed it again with a snap. Soi was frowning at her, confusion evident in the small girl's eyes. Yoruichi forced herself to remain still.

_Get a grip. It's just Soi. _

"Last night," she started surprised at how strained her voice sounded. She coughed. "Last night, I..." She trailed off.

_What? I what? _

Soi slid back up the couch and away from Yoruichi. The frown had slipped from her face and was replaced by a look that was infinitely sadder ... and perhaps a little fearful.

Yoruichi stood up suddenly and moved away. She kept an arm wrapped around herself, her free hand going to her face and rubbing her eyes. She couldn't stand it she hated the way that Soi was looking at her.

"Fuck!" She barked out kicking at the coffee table. She drew in long shaky breaths, the back of her hands pressed against her eyes.

_Calm down_

_Get a Grip_

_Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

She let out a long breath and dropped her hands to her side. Turning to face Soi, she balled her hands into fists to keep them from fidgeting. "Last night," she repeated. Soi wasn't even looking at her anymore she was turned away and looking to the window. Yoruichi took a tentative step forward determined to explain her actions, she reached a hand out and gently touched Soi's shoulder. Soi turned her head and looked at the hand resting on her shoulder, her eyes lifted and she looked directly into Yoruichi's golden orbs.

Of all the things she smiled. "Just say that you're sorry and we'll leave it at that," She said.

Yoruichi stared at her. She pulled her hand sharply away as though she'd just been electrocuted. This wasn't like Soi at all.

"When we got back here from the club, what happened between us..." she trailed off a faint blush staining her cheeks and she looked away.

_What? _That wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all. Where was the fire? The fury? _You should be angry, you should be furious with me._

"Soi..." She hung her head. "You have every right to be angry with me. I, when we got back here, what I did."

"Just say you're sorry," She made it sound so undemanding.

_I'm sorry._

Yoruichi opened her mouth and once again found that she had no words. Soi was looking at her, that mixture of sadness and fear still etched on her small face.

_I'm sorry._

Simply apologising wasn't enough. Yoruichi wanted to explain herself, to try and make Soi understand why she had done it. But she didn't know the answer herself.

Slowly Soi looked away from her. "You can't do it, can you?"

"I..." This time Yoruichi looked away. She couldn't, the words just wouldn't leave her mouth. It would be so simple, so easy, to just say those two little words. And yet she couldn't.

A bitter laugh escaped Soi's lips. "You actually can't apologise," She stood up and strode past Yoruichi and towards the door.

_Wait..._

"Soi!" Yoruichi spun and bounded over to the door. Soi had it half open when Yoruichi collided into it slamming it shut. "Wait, just wait."

Soi tilted her head and looked at Yoruichi out of the corner of her eye. "I'm making it easy for you."

"I don't want you to make it easy for me!" Yoruichi yelled. "For fucks sake! Shout at me! Scream at me. I deserve it."

"What would be the point?"

Yoruichi stared at her incredulous. "Why aren't you angry?"

Soi leant her head against the door and closed her eyes. "Okay," she said finally. She swallowed. Yoruichi could see her throat working. "Why did you do it?"

"I was angry with you," Yoruichi admitted. "I mean really angry, I don't think I've ever been so angry in my life."

_I was scared..._

"You looked, I thought that, well," She was shaking, her limbs trembled and her breathing was uneven.

_I thought you were going to leave..._

"You looked disappointed," Yoruichi continued.

_I thought you were going to leave me!_

Soi raised her head and looked at Yoruichi.

"What I did..."

_I had to give you a reason to stay..._

"... I wasn't thinking..."

_The only way I know how to keep you is with..._

She was going to be sick. She could feel her stomach churning and bile in the back of her throat. She turned away, unable to look at those grey eyes any longer. She fell against the door and slid down to the ground burying her face in her hands.

_The only thing I have to offer you..._

"Shit!" She desperately tried to suck air in through tightly clenched teeth.

"Yoruichi..."

The goddess lifted her head to look up at Soi.

"It's okay," Soi said, her eyes were dark and the look on her face was far too close to pity for Yoruichi. "It's okay."

"No," Yoruichi replied softly. "It's not."

Soi sat down next to her. "I suppose not," she said. To Yoruichi's surprise Soi leant her head against her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

_Oh..._

Yoruichi's shoulders slumped. "What are you apologising for?"

"Because I think I let something slip by me," she answered. "Something really important." Yoruichi felt Soi's small hand in her own. "But it's okay, because I know now."

Yoruichi didn't say anything; she held her silence and stared at her feet. She closed her hand around Soi's and squeezed it. Soi shuffled closer to her and Yoruichi closed her eyes leaning her head against Soi's.

* * *

**Whew! Another chapter done! And it's still fairly depressing...**

**I don't know how the fight between Soi and Ikkaku happened, it wasn't planned or anything. Weird how things like that happen.**

**Remember to leave a review (they are like crack to me!) and tell me what you think. If you didn't like it, don't be afraid to say so. Seriously, even if you hated it leave a review (preferably a constructive one, but if you just want to tell me I suck then that's okay too). **


	9. Bridges

**Yay me, another chapter.**

**Thank you for all the reviews and support so far, slowly but surely I'm cranking this fic out.**

**

* * *

**

Bridges

Yoruichi leant forward her elbows resting on the large oak desk in front of her; it was heavy and polished to such a high degree that she could easily see her face reflected in it. She was pretty sure that oak shouldn't ever have been polished like that, but then her father had strange tastes. This was his old office and she hadn't had a chance to redecorate it yet. She had a feeling that, apart from the tedium of the work, one of the reasons she so stringently avoided the office was because of its décor.

The desk sat in front of large windows that were in desperate need of a good clean, one wall had a long line of shelves packed with books. Only the book case closest to the desk looked as though its contents were used; the books worn and peeling. The other books were purely for decoration. The opposite wall was frankly an offence to Yoruichi's senses. A large and obscene tapestry was hung in the centre depicting her family tree, the elegant calligraphy tracing from the top of the fabric and dwindling down to rest finally on her own name. It cut a lonely figure beneath so many other names.

Yoruichi bent her head forward and narrowed her eyes at the well polished desktop. It was almost as good as a mirror.

"You're not taking this seriously, Yoruichi-San."

"Sure I am," Yoruichi replied raising her head and smiling. "I always take my work seriously."

Her assistant, Yadomaru Lisa, sighed in annoyance. "Then would you please make a decision." She was carrying a large file stuffed with paperwork that Yoruichi just knew she would be forced to read.

Yoruichi looked at the two offending pieces of paper that so urgently required her attention. They were photographs, one of her and her father standing in front of an old fashioned fireplace; his hand gripping her shoulder and both of them looking thoroughly miserable, the second was just of her father glaring at the unfortunate photographer. One of these would end up being the company Christmas card this year.

"They're not very festive," Yoruichi commented. "Couldn't we have had a picture of Santa? Or a snowy landscape perhaps."

"No," Lisa answered. "Besides what does it matter? Half the employees don't even celebrate Christmas."

"Not in the Christian sense, no," Yoruichi sighed and picked up the picture of her and her father. "How old is this photo? I look very young in it." She must have only been in her mid-teens, her hair was short and unkempt and her eyes had a wide-eyed innocence about them.

"We did arrange for a new photograph to be taken but you didn't show up."

"Whoops," Yoruichi said with a grin. "I'm sure I had a good excuse."

"Your excuse was that you were, and I quote: 'Getting some.'"

"Like I said; a good excuse."

Lisa folded her arms in front of her and started tapping her foot impatiently. She had been Yoruichi's assistant for a nearly a year now, and the fact that she had lasted this long was a standing testament to her ability. Yoruichi shouldn't have been surprised at the woman's organisational skills, or her capacity to put up with the Shihouin's indifferent manner. After all Yadomaru Lisa used to be Kyoraku Shunsui's assistant manager at the Eighth bar, and if she could make that man work then handling Yoruichi must have been a walk in the park.

"Just pick one already so we can get on with the next order of business."

"I'm voting for the one of just him," Yoruichi said handing the photo up to Lisa. "He looks scary as hell, and I like the thought of him scaring the crap out of his employees."

"Very well," Lisa took the photo from Yoruichi's out stretched hand. "Next: your birthday."

Yoruichi groaned. "I'm not having one," She said. "I've decided to stop aging here, twenty-four suits me fine."

"Twenty-five isn't much different to twenty-four," Lisa pointed out. "Except that you'll officially be a Christmas cake, but we always knew that you would be."

"Ha ha," Yoruichi dead panned. "I figured I'd be going round the Gotei 13 for my birthday, same as last year and same as the year before that."

Lisa nodded in agreement. "Starting with a meal at the prestigious First bar," She pulled out a sheet of paper from the file she was carrying and handed it to Yoruichi. "Here's the seating arrangement."

Yoruichi took the sheet of paper and scanned it. "Why is Byakuya sitting next to me?"

"He's not, Urahara-San is."

Yoruichi sighed. Her and Kisuke were sitting at the head of the table but directly to her right was Byakuya; Kuukaku was placed to Kisuke's left. "Where's Soi?"

"She's not invited."

"Like hell she isn't!" the Goddess protested.

"She didn't attend last year."

"She was in China!"

"And I seem to remember that you didn't miss her all that much," Lisa smirked. "In fact I seem to remember you enjoying the attention of several young ladies and-"

"Enough!" Yoruichi cut her off not wanting to be reminded of her past infidelities. "I want Soi there."

"Alright. But she'll have to sit further down the table."

"Why? I'd prefer it if she sat up next to me."

"Shihouin-Dono was quite adamant that Kuchiki-San would sit next to you," Lisa explained. "And the Kuchiki's agree. We want to give the impression that there is something going on between you two. You're families have strong ties and we want to strengthen them."

Sighing Yoruichi glanced back over the seating arrangement. "My father isn't on here."

"He decided that you would probably throw a hissy fit if he deigned to attend."

"Hissy fit?" Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at her assistant's choice of words.

"Yes, hissy fit," Lisa confirmed. "Like last year. I heard all about it, apparently you made quite the fuss."

"I didn't throw a hissy fit," She leant back in her chair and crossed her arms. She had, admittedly, suffered from a rather childish outburst and had refused to attend if her father was there, but then as far as she was concerned he was banned from all of her birthdays.

"You've been throwing a hissy fit for nearly two years now," Lisa pointed out. "It would be a lot easier if the pair of you just made up."

"Not a chance."

"It's bad for business having you both fight like this," Lisa plucked the seating arrangement from Yoruichi's fingers. "I'll add Soi-San to the table, is there anyone else you want there?"

"Not really."

"I don't need to tell you and Soi-San to keep your, uh, activities to a minimum on the night, do I?"

Yoruichi glared at her. "That is really rich coming from you, you sexual miscreant."

"I am not a sexual miscreant! I'm just curious." Lisa huffed. "Besides, I am discreet with any and all of my _normal_ sexual activities."

"It's a wildly known fact that you'll try anything at least once," Yoruichi smiled slyly. "I should know that better than anyone."

"Yoruichi-San, you were not my first furore into lesbianism," Lisa replied pushing her glasses up her nose with a single finger.

"I was thinking I was more your first rape victim."

Lisa gave her a hard stare. "That isn't funny."

Yoruichi shrugged the smile still on her lips. "I never said it was."

"Just keep your rampant lesbianism under control," the bespectacled woman told her. "You're actions reflect on your family and on the company. The investors certainly don't want to know that the heir to their precious commodity's favourite hobby is finger-fucking her way around the city."

"Finger-fucking?" Yoruichi raised an eyebrow. "That's a novel way of putting it."

"I like the alliteration; it rolls off the tongue nicely."

"Hmm," Yoruichi placed her elbows on the desk; her fingers intertwined and rested her chin on the back of her hands. She frowned down at her desk and the pointless clutter that adorned it.

Lisa sighed. "Don't pull that face," She said moving over to the desk. "You know that I don't have a problem with it."

"I never said you did."

"Then stop looking so depressed," She pulled a small folder from the enormous file she was carrying. "Here are some boring financial reports that need your attention. It's all been taken care of already, you just need to sign in the right places and hand them back."

Sighing, Yoruichi took the folder and set it down on the desk. She could feel Lisa's eyes on her as she opened the folder and glanced at the first report. Thankfully the office phone buzzed before she could get stuck into it.

"Shihouin-San's office," Lisa said clicking the button for the speaker-phone before Yoruichi could. "What is it?"

"Do you have to sound so short?" Yoruichi asked her assistant.

"Uh, Shihouin-Sama," the small nervous voice of the receptionist said.

"San," Yoruichi corrected her. "Yoruichi-San will do."

"Oh!" the girl squeaked.

"Now you've gone and flustered her," Lisa admonished the Shihouin heiress.

Yoruichi shrugged. "What is it?"

"Well, there's a very irate Chinese girl here," the receptionist continued. "Um, she says she wants to see you. Should I call security?"

Yoruichi grinned. "Nah, just send her up," She paused. "Tell her to take all her clothes off first though."

The receptionist started stammering and making flustered noises.

"I'm joking," Yoruichi said. "Just send her up." She hung up on the receptionist and laughed.

"You won't be laughing in a minute," Lisa said. "It sounds like you're in trouble."

"I'm always in trouble," the Goddess smiled. "And Soi's always angry. For her birthday I'm going to send her on a course."

"You think of the most romantic gifts," Lisa deadpanned. She stepped back from the desk. "I'm going to stand out of the way. Just in case."

The door to the office banged open and Soi stormed in, a very angry expression on her face. "You!" She bellowed at Yoruichi pointing her finger. "What the hell did I tell you?"

"Um, you tell me a lot of things," The Goddess said slowly in a bewildered tone. "You might have to be more specific." Truthfully she had a fairly good idea what this was about and thus felt that she could afford to tease her girlfriend a little. "I mean, I can't be expected to remember absolutely _everything _that you tell me, can I? That would just be silly."

If it was at all possible Soi looked even angrier. Her arm flung forward and for the first time Yoruichi noticed that she had something dark in her hand, or was probably would have been a better term since the small Chinese girl had just thrown the offending object directly at the Shihouin princess's head. Yoruichi didn't react, there was no point; Soi had the accuracy of a ninja. Yoruichi's vision was engulfed by the fabric of what Soi had been holding, thankfully it had landed so that the soft underside covered her head rather than the heavy leather that she knew adorned the other side.

"Does this mean you don't like it?" Yoruichi asked calmly from beneath the jacket.

"I told you not to go buying me anything else!" Soi raged.

Yoruichi shrugged. "I saw it and thought of you," She pulled the jacket off of her head and set it down neatly on the desk taking time to straighten the sleeves out. It was made of thick black leather and had a yellow stripe running down each arm. "You know, you really shouldn't go snooping."

"I didn't go snooping!"

Yoruichi stopped and looked up feeling momentarily confused. "Then how did you find it?"

"It wasn't difficult," Soi replied her voice still raised. "Since you left it out on the bed."

Yoruichi turned to Lisa. "What part of 'hide it' did you not understand?"

"I'm not an errand monkey," the assistant replied. "I picked up the jacket as a favour; I'm not going to take time out of my day to wrap gifts for you and to hide them."

"You're my assistant," Yoruichi pointed out. "What else do I pay you for if not to do these little chores for me?"

"You don't pay me at all," Lisa retorted. "Your Father does. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do then watch your soap opera dramatics." She strode out of the office closing the door behind her.

Soi was still glaring at Yoruichi, her arms crossed in front of her.

Yoruichi smiled. "You look cute when you're angry."

Soi looked taken aback a small blush forming on her cheeks.

Standing up, Yoruichi walked around her desk and leant back against it; facing Soi, she was wearing a long heavy dark coat that made her look even smaller than she was. "Do you not like it?"

Soi sighed. "It's not that I dislike it," she said. "I just don't want you buying me random gifts."

"It was going to be your Christmas present."

"I thought the scooter was the Christmas present?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "Can't they both be?"

"That's not fair," the small girl complained. "I can't afford to buy you presents."

"Even if you could, what would be the point? If there's something I want, I'll just buy it myself." Yoruichi cocked her head to the side and smiled. "Besides, it's enough just having you around."

"That was a horribly corny line," Soi told her, but Yoruichi could see the faint blush on her cheeks and the slight dip in her head that told the heiress that she'd just successfully embarrassed her girlfriend.

"Come here," Yoruichi waved her over.

Slowly Soi walked over to her and Yoruichi took hold of the sides of the long coat that Soi was wearing. It must have been cold outside; her nose had a slight pink tinge to it.

Yoruichi planted a quick kiss on Soi's lips and smiled. "Still pissed with me?"

"Yes."

"Urgh!" Yoruichi rested her head on Soi's shoulder. Her hands roamed up Soi's coat undoing the buttons as they ascended. She pushed the coat open and rested her hands on Soi's slim hips. Beneath her coat Soi was wearing loose fitting jeans that hung low on her hips, coupled with the small shirt she was wearing; Yoruichi had a perfect view of her lower stomach. Smiling, Yoruichi hooked her fingers over the waistband of Soi's jeans and rubbed her thumb against the soft flesh of her abdomen.

"Enjoying yourself?" Soi asked.

"Always when I'm with you," Yoruichi answered sincerely. She smiled when she saw the blush return to Soi's cheeks. She pulled Soi closer into her and kissed her. Yoruichi's head tilted and she sighed into the kiss when she felt Soi's hand slide up her thigh, her own fingers tightening their grip on the waistband of Soi's jeans.

Something had changed, she realised. She wasn't sure exactly what it was yet, but this felt different, she felt different. There was still that old familiar feeling that only Soi seemed to be able to evoke from her, so akin to static making her shiver and her hair stand up on end. And now there was something new, something that had her completely intrigued. Her hands danced around Soi's waist to her lower back and she pulled her closer, pressing their bodies together, eager to see if she could exploit this new feeling. She wasn't disappointed; the closeness brought a warmth that hadn't been there before. Or perhaps she had just never noticed it.

She ended the kiss and pressed her face into the crook of Soi's neck, inhaling her scent and tightening her arms around her waist.

She felt Soi stiffen slightly. "Is something wrong?" The younger girl asked.

"No," Yoruichi murmured into her neck. "I just felt like…" She paused unsure about what she was going to say. She kissed the pale skin of Soi's neck and lifted her head to look Soi in the eye. "Nothing's wrong."

Soi frowned slightly but nodded all the same and then leant back in and brushed her lips lightly against Yoruichi's. "Are you free now?"

"I can take a couple of hours off," Yoruichi replied.

Soi smiled. "Lunch?"

"Excellent idea!" Yoruichi grinned and pulled Soi in for another kiss. "I'll go tell Yadomaru and then we can go. Actually, it'll be more fun if I don't tell her."

"You'll drive the poor woman insane," Soi said.

"She's driving me insane," Yoruichi dropped her arms from Soi and rubbed her temples. "I swear she goes out of her way to find me the most boring jobs."

Soi stepped back and started buttoning up her coat. "Oh!" She exclaimed her head snapping up. She looked at Yoruichi intently. "What's with the receptionist here?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "What about her?"

"Well she looks freakishly young, and also kind of like she was about to burst into tears at any moment."

"Really? I've never taken that much notice of her," Yoruichi didn't want to mention that harassing the receptionist over the phone was probably her favourite work-time hobby.

Soi shrugged. "I just thought it was weird. You'd think someone who had to deal with the public all the time would be made of sterner stuff."

Yoruichi placed her hand on the small of Soi's back and steered her from the office. "As long as she does her job, I don't care if she's spends her time bawling her eyes out," She closed the door behind them. A few people stared over at them as they walked along the corridor towards the elevator. She wasn't sure if they were staring because she was the owner's daughter or because she had her arm around Soi's waist, but then, she didn't really care either way.

"Where do you think you're going?" An irate voice demanded.

"Wonderful," Yoruichi muttered. She turned to face her assistant. "For lunch, would you like me to get you anything? Coffee? Porn?"

"Hilarious!" Lisa barked flushing angrily. "Have you done those finance reports?"

"I'll do them when I get back," Yoruichi pressed the button for the elevator. A few workers were wandering over attracted by Lisa's raised voice. "Now go sit in my seat and keep it warm for me." The doors to the elevator opened, Soi and Yoruichi both stepped inside. Yoruichi gave a smiled and wave to her infuriated assistant as the doors closed.

/\/\/\

Turning on her heel, Yadomaru Lisa stormed back up the corridor knocking down employees as she went. She turned sharply and straight into the small receptionist who was over laden with papers. Lisa slapped them out of the small girl's hands. "Excuse me, Hinamori-Chan!" She barged past the flustered girl and banged open the door to the Shihouin office. The finance reports sat untouched on the desk and she ignored them, they were of no importance. She went to the desk and picked up the phone punching in the number she knew by heart. It rang twice and then a tired voice answered.

"…hello?"

"She's left," Lisa said in a clipped tone.

"Huh?"

"I said; she's left."

A pause while the person on the other end took their time in figuring out what she meant. "Who is this?"

"Dammit Shinji!" Lisa shouted. "It's Yadomaru!"

He chuckled softly. "I know," he said his voice brightening. "I was just playing around. So Yoruichi-San left?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Was she with anyone?"

"She's with Soi," Lisa replied. "You should send-"

"Nah," he said with a slight yawn. "She'll be fine."

Lisa paused and gripped the receiver tightly. "Shinji, she's not supposed to go anywhere unsupervised."

"She'll be fine," he repeated.

"I'm calling Kensei."

"Fine then, ignore me."

"I am!" She hung up on him and took a moment before dialling the next number. Sometimes Shinji was too relaxed.

/\/\/\

"Do you have to do that?" Soi asked with a distasteful look.

"Yes," Yoruichi replied flicking the flint of her lighter. She lit the cigarette in her mouth and took an extra long drag exhaling the smoke with relish. "Ah, that feels better."

"They'll kill you in the end," Soi turned from her and hopped nimbly up onto the wall that ran parallel with the path. They had finished lunch sometime ago and had decided to take a stroll though the park since Soi didn't have to be back in college for a few hours yet, and Yoruichi just didn't care if she made it back to the office or not. The chill air seemed to have discouraged most people from venturing outside and so the park was nearly empty.

Yoruichi looked up to Soi and shook her head. "And your lemming-like leaps are a sure way to ensure a long life?"

She shrugged. "At least it'll be a quick end," She stopped momentarily and placed her right foot in front of her left. "Lung cancer is a slow painful way to go."

"Don't care," She replied.

Soi took a few quick steps and then flipped forward, her left hand pushing against the stone, carrying her right over and back onto her feet. She turned back to face Yoruichi a cocky smirk on her face. "Yeah you do," She said. "You just can't stop."

"Excuse me?"

"I said; you can't stop," Soi walked backwards along the wall keeping her eyes on Yoruichi. "You don't even like it really. The only reason you still smoke is because you can't quit."

Yoruichi took the cigarette from her lips and looked at it. Shaking her head she took another drag from it. "I know what you're doing," She told Soi.

"And what's' that?"

"You think that if you make it some sort of challenge, that if you appeal to my competitive side, you'll get me to quit."

"Guilty."

"Won't work," Yoruichi took yet another long drag on the cigarette. "You're about to run out of wall by the way."

Soi spun round and quickened her pace. The wall did indeed end as it came to where two paths crossed one another. A single bollard was placed in the centre of the second path. Soi skipped from the wall and to the bollard and then across to the wall on the other side. Yoruichi quickened her own pace to catch up. "I thought I told you to take it easy," She said.

Soi stopped and looked down to her. "I have been taking it easy," she said. "My arm's fine."

It hadn't even been a full week since Soi had injured her elbow; the bruise was still there covering nearly her whole arm. Yoruichi had insisted on taking her to the hospital to have it X-rayed, and Soi had complained the whole way. It was just badly bumped, but Yoruichi still didn't like the idea of her risking a serious and lasting injury.

Yoruichi's pace slowed as her mind drifted back to the previous weekend. She wasn't sure how long she and Soi had spent just sitting on the floor and not speaking, but when they had finally gotten up it was dark outside. She had expected them to enter into another awkward conversation, but Soi had simply kissed her and said goodnight before going home. Yoruichi had spent the next hour pacing round her apartment not knowing what to do, but unable to sit still.

While she had been pacing Soi had phoned her and asked if she could phone her back, which she had done immediately. They had spent the night talking to each other about everything and absolutely nothing until it was time to go to bed. The next morning Soi had turned up and asked if she wanted to spend the day together. A pattern had developed between them. This past week they had spent every day together, meeting up at every spare moment they had. And yet when it came to the end of the evening they both retreated to their respective apartments and spent their nights alone.

Yoruichi chewed on her lip as she mulled that thought over in her mind. She looked up; Soi was still walking along the wall.

"... I'm not sure what the hell she expects _me_ to do about it!" the small Chinese girl ranted. She stopped and spun on her heel to face Yoruichi. "I mean, what can I do?"

"Umm..." Yoruichi realised that the whole time she had been thinking Soi had been talking.

Soi raised an eyebrow. "You weren't listening, were you?"

"I was," Yoruichi insisted. She tried to recall anything that she may have heard Soi say but drew a complete blank. She sighed in defeat. "No, no I wasn't. Sorry." She held her hands up apologetically. "What were you saying?"

"My brother was arrested."

"Oh!" Yoruichi actually wasn't all that sure what she should say to that. "Why?"

"There was some sort of riot and he punched a cop in the face."

"Well that would do it," Yoruichi said. Dropping her cigarette on the floor, she stubbed it out with her heel. "No chance of him being released?"

"It's doubtful. I'm sure my father will work something out though, he usually does," she hopped down from the wall. "My mother wants me to go home."

Yoruichi stared at her. "What?" She couldn't read the expression on Soi's face which scared her. "For a visit?"

Soi shook her head. "No, she wants me to move back." She explained. "She says that it's important for the family to be together in times of crisis."

Yoruichi's mouth had gone very dry. "Oh," She managed to utter. She pulled her cigarettes out of her bag and put one to her lips.

Soi stepped towards her and snatched it from her, dropping it to the ground. "I told her that I couldn't," She explained. "I said I was too far into my studies to give up on them now."

Yoruichi let out a sigh of relief. "You scared me there for a second."

Soi was giving her an odd searching look. "Since when do you get scared?"

"I don't usually," She admitted. "Was your mother angry?"

"She started crying and complaining that I don't care about the family," Soi made a disgusted noise. "Tengfei was stupid enough to get arrested, I don't see how that's my problem."

Yoruichi didn't even to try and place in her mind which brother Tengfei was; she hadn't ever bothered to learn any of their names since Soi very rarely mentioned them. "Aren't you worried about him?"

"I'm more worried that my father will try to force me to go back to China," she said. "I don't think he will, but he was against my moving to Japan in the first place." She looked away.

"Hey," Yoruichi took hold of her hand. "I'm sure that he won't. And if he does, then I'll just have to buy you off of him."

"Buy?"

"Yeah," Yoruichi grinned. "I'll buy him a couple of rice fields in exchange for you."

Soi gritted her teeth and literally shook with rage. "What the hell?" She shoved Yoruichi away and spun on her heel marching away.

"Would opium fields be more appropriate?"

"Fuck you!" Soi shouted over her shoulder.

Yoruichi laughed and hurried after her now very disgruntled girlfriend. She threw her arms around her and pulled her back into her. "I'm only joking," She said burying her face into Soi's shoulder. "And he won't force you to go back to China, okay? I won't let him."

She felt Soi relax back into her. "Why couldn't you have just said that in the first place instead of being an ass?

"Because you look cute when you're angry," Yoruichi replied with a smirk. She kissed the side of Soi's head. "But I do mean that, I won't let them force you to go back. So stop worrying about it, okay?"

"Yeah," Soi turned her head to face her, they were millimetres apart. "Thank you."

Yoruichi smiled and pressed her lips against Soi's, holding her tight. It was there again, that static feeling that made her tingle, the flutter in her stomach; and that new feeling so much like warmth that seemed to engulf her very being. Somewhere in the back of her mind the Goddess decided that that was the best feeling.

* * *

**For some reason this chapter just didn't want to end! It just kept going and going, and it wasn't even going anywhere. I had to force myself to stop otherwise there would have been another 1000 words of pointless dialogue. This fic is already overloaded with pointless dialogue; it certainly doesn't need any more.**

**The title of this chapter is fairly pointless too. I couldn't think of a good title so told myself that the next song to play on my comp would be the title no matter how dumb it would sound. The Song was **_**Bridge to Canada **_**By the Noisette's, I decided to cut the Canada part off though. If you squint you might be able to see a tenuous link between the title of the fic and the content. Probably not though.**

**Also, never under any circumstances should you ask if you can buy a Chinese person (or any person for that matter) they won't find it half as amusing as you do and you will be banned from their restaurant. **

**Thank you for reading! Reviews are always appreciated.**


	10. Come Tonight Part I of silence

**This Chapter is for shelter; who very politely asked me to update and for YokaiMoon, whose boredom I've hopefully lessened.**

**

* * *

**

Come Tonight Part I

_...of silence..._

She had read the letter so many times now that it was badly crumpled and had gone soft and felt like fabric. It had taken several reads for it to sink in and a few more to convince herself that it wasn't a hoax. Yet it didn't seem to matter how many times she read it, she couldn't think of a suitable solution to the problem.

Sighing, Soi folded the paper and stuffed it into her bag. She was in big trouble. Her landlord had sent her a letter, and not the first one, pointing out that she was very behind on her rent. There were plenty of people she could borrow money from; the first being her family. Now would be a really bad time for her to be asking favours from them, she didn't want to give them any control over her and this would pretty much equate to admitting defeat and handing the reigns back to her father - the perfect excuse for her mother to try to force her to return home.

The second choice was the Gotei 13, she knew that many of the staff for the bars were indebted to old man Yamamoto and were in all probability working off their debt, but she didn't really want to join them on that list. She wasn't naïve enough to believe that all the business practices of the Gotei 13 were completely legit and she really didn't want to be drawn into the seedier parts of the enterprise.

The third, and most likely choice, was to borrow it from Yoruichi. The problem was that Yoruichi wouldn't see it as a loan at all; she would just give Soi the money and then refuse to accept any repayments. And that didn't sit right with the small Chinese girl at all.

Rubbing her temples with her fingertips, Soi let out a long sigh and slipped down from the wall she was sitting on, landing lightly on her feet. She straightened out the strap on her bag and set off, her fingers trailing along the wall as she went. The wall that surrounded the college had become something of a sanctuary for her. She seemed to be the only person who could scale it; perhaps she was the only person who would want to. Of course this made it the perfect place for her to go when she didn't want to speak to anyone, which was frequent. There were no footholds, no places for grip, and its surface was smooth. The only way to climb it was to take it at a run, to trust in the power of your own legs to run up its slippery side and grab at the top and then use upper body strength to haul yourself up. Were Yoruichi here; she'd scold Soi for risking further injury to her elbow.

It seemed lately that she was letting things pile up on top of her; behind on her rent, behind on her college work, and recently in trouble with Kenpachi since she'd missed a shift at work having spent the evening sitting on Yoruichi's floor with the Goddess.

Soi usually prided herself on her organisational skills, her ability to cope with pressure. The past two weeks though had seen her fuck up rather spectacularly. There were far too many problems surrounding her, grating on the edges of her mind, and try as she might she just couldn't seem to summon up the will power to actually do anything about them.

"Soi!" A voice called from behind. "Wait up!"

Soi stopped and turned round; Renji was jogging towards her with Hisagi and Kira in tow. Although the three of them were friends, it was unusual to see all three of them in the same place at the same time. Hisagi was usually too preoccupied with sports to grace people with his presence, while the ever studious Kira Izuru was all too often holed up in the library studying. It was frankly bizarre to see Renji without Rukia; usually he followed her around like a love sick puppy, something which Soi found mildly nauseating. She supposed that the rumours about Rukia and Kurosaki Ichigo must be true for Renji to be separate from her.

Fixing her face into its usual scowl, she turned to face them. "What do you want?" She asked bluntly.

"Huh, particular reason why you're so hostile?" Renji actually sounded offended.

"She's always like that," Hisagi said finally catching up, he looked to her. "Guess you didn't hear. Another girl was attacked the other night."

"So? What does that have to do with me?" she asked.

The three of them looked a little taken a back. "Well, it's not safe for you to walking around on your own."

"I can take care of myself. Besides," She pointed up. "It's the middle of the day."

"See! You try to do a nice thing," Renji stuffed his hands in his pockets. "The Student President called me; we have to put on more self-defence classes. These guys are going to help out too." He jerked his thumb towards Hisagi and Kira.

Soi eyed the pair. She was pretty sure that Hisagi could easily handle himself in a fight, but Kira looked like a strong breeze could topple him. "Wonderful," She muttered and turned away. To her extreme annoyance they followed behind her, and try as she might, she couldn't block out their inane conversation. Both Hisagi and Kira were ribbing Renji over the fact that it seemed as though Rukia had gone off with Kurosaki, and then the tables turned when Matsumoto's name cropped up and it was Hisagi's turn to be mocked.

Soi ground her teeth together and increased her pace, annoyingly so did they; they're conversation now taking a seedier turn. Just what she needed to hear; the Neanderthal-like thinking of the sex starved twenty-something man.

"Seriously!" Kira said with absolute conviction. "I'm telling you girls love it when you-"

"Enough!" Soi bellowed spinning round on her heel. "Enough! Stop following me!"

With wide-eyed innocence, the three of them stared at her. "We weren't following you," Hisagi said.

"We just happen to be going in the same direction," Renji said.

"Bullshit!" She seethed. "I don't need you guys to watch over me! So you can just fuck right-" She stopped when she felt a presence behind her and warm breath on her ear.

"Buzz, buzz," the soft and oh-so familiar voice murmured. "Buzz, buzz. What an angry little bee you are today."

Soi spun away from Yoruichi, making sure to keep her back to the three guys not wanting them to see the blush that had spread over her cheeks. Yoruichi smiled at her, stepping forward, she quickly stooped and stole a quick kiss from Soi. "That better?" She asked still smiling. Her hand went round to the back of Soi's head her fingers threading through the smaller girl's hair, and she pulled her close to her body. "So what have you three done to make my Soi so angry?"

"Nothing!" Renji protested loudly. Soi swore that she could hear a touch of fear in his voice

"We were just trying to look out for her." Kira continued.

"Oh?" Yoruichi said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"There's a loony on the loose," Hisagi calmly explained.

Yoruichi still had a hold of Soi; her hand was clasped firmly against the back of Soi's head holding her close. Soi could feel that she blushing furiously at such a public display of affection; or of perversion since her face was disconcertingly close to the Goddess's breasts. From a distance it probably looked like she was face first in them.

"All right then," Yoruichi said. She let go of Soi and allowed the smaller girl to step back from her. "Had a fun day so far?" Yoruichi asked.

"Thrilling," Soi answered tersely. "What are you doing here?"

"Funny you should ask," the Goddess said happily. "I'm looking for a few strong guys to help me out with some heavy lifting." She looked over to Renji, Kira and Hisagi; and then back to Soi. "Do you know any?"

"Aw, c'mon!" Renji bellowed.

"I'm kidding," Yoruichi laughed. "You guys will do."

"What's going on?" Soi asked feeling slightly confused.

/\/\/\

Twenty minutes later they were all piled in Kuukaku's pick-up (Soi's scooter unceremoniously dumped on the back) and heading towards the Thirteenth bar. Soi had never been in a car with Yoruichi behind the wheel and she was pretty sure that she could quite happily make this the last time.

"Annual party?" Hisagi asked; apparently unconcerned with Yoruichi's questionable driving skills.

"Yeah," Yoruichi confirmed. "Kuukaku started throwing them a few years back, they turned out to be pretty popular so now every Christmas she feels the need to invite folk round to trash her house. I'm surprised you haven't been before. Most of the staff from the Gotei 13 tends to show up. Did you not wonder why most of the bars seemed to be closed every year on this night?"

"Not really," Hisagi answered. He was leaning forward; perched between the two front seats elbows his resting on them. "So does the Thirteenth bar always supply the booze?"

"Kaien always sets us up, he's good like that."

"How many traffic laws do you intend to break?" Soi demanded shrilly. She was gripping the sides of her seat tightly in her hands.

"Didn't realize that I'd broken any," Yoruichi said right before cutting off an old lady.

/\/\/\

Unlike Yoruichi, Kuukaku lived away from the city centre in a respectable residential area where all the houses were the same white washed, picket fenced style abodes she half expected to see in a movie. The gardens were all meticulously kept, front lawns trimmed to precisions and colour coded flower beds. That was until you reached Kuukaku's house, which may have recently suffered from artillery fire judging from the crate ridden front garden. Soi was surprised to see that Kuukaku was the only house on the whole street to have bothered putting up any kind of seasonal decoration. You'd hardly have guessed that Christmas was less than a week away judging by the scarce sense of festivities in the area.

They pulled up into the drive way narrowly avoiding the large and very expensive looking motorbike that was parked there. Soi was still clinging tightly to the base of her seat, until the engine was turned off and the keys safely out of the ignition she wasn't taking any chances. Neither Renji nor Hisagi seemed to be bothered by Yoruichi's frankly terrifying driving, Kira seemed more inclined to agree with Soi; having turned a light shade of green.

"You okay?" Yoruichi asked, turning to face Soi, a grin plastered up one side of her face.

"Peachy," Soi replied through clenched teeth. She fumbled for the door and pushed it open, nearly falling out and only just managing to catch herself before she hit the ground; landing heavily on her feet. The muscles in her right arm ached as did her elbow; slowly she bent her arm back and forth, trying to work out the kinks.

Hisagi and Renji both jumped free of the truck. Kira though, stumbled out and spent a few moments trying to balance himself, before he bent double and dry retched much to his friends' amusement.

"Right then," Yoruichi said, walking round to the back of the truck. "Time to unload. You three going to be okay, carrying all this?"

"No problem," Renji answered, he stretched his arms high above his head and grinned somewhat maniacally.

"You sure?" Yoruichi asked. "I mean if it's too much for you..."

"Easy!" Hisagi boasted with a laugh and a wave of his hand. "I probably lift more in my work out anyways."

"Yeah," Renji chimed in, slinging an arm around Hisagi's shoulders and pulling him into a comradely hug. "It's nothing for guys like us. Ain't that right, Izuru?"

Kira looked like he might die at any moment.

"All right then," Yoruichi flashed a smile at the three of them. "I'll leave it in your capable hands. Let's go, Soi." She spun round, grabbing hold of Soi's hand and practically dragging her into Kuukaku's house.

Soi always found Kuukaku's house disorientating since the Shiba woman felt the need to redecorate every few months.

They were standing in the kitchen, evidently Kuukaku had grown bored and had ripped up the carpet that used to cover the floor; she seemed to be favouring stone at the moment. Soi cast her eye around the room, the bench tops looked like they had been carved from a quarry, or a random boulder the Shiba woman had found. What disturbed Soi most of all though, was the large furnace that seemed to be acting as the oven.

Yoruichi didn't seem to be at all perturbed by her friend's bizarre taste in decor, but then she had known Kuukaku for so long now that she probably didn't even notice. Ignoring the heinous decorations, Yoruichi pulled Soi from the kitchen and down the hallway, turning left into the living room. Soi winced; it looked as though a student of modern art had thrown up in there. Kuukaku's new couch was welded from assorted pieces of junk and Soi could make out an old tin sink jutting from beneath a patchy cushion. The rest of her furniture was just as bad, clearly retrieved from a scrap yard and twisted and battered into acting as tables, seats and anything else Kuukaku clearly felt she needed in her living room. Not a single piece looked comfortable or practical.

Yoruichi carried on, taking Soi through the room and out of the sliding doors that led to the back garden. This was the real reason Kuukaku had chosen to live here; the garden was huge. It stretched back from the house a good twenty metres, gently sloping downhill and ending with a thick sand pit. The grass was patchy and an unhealthy yellow rather than green with a broken shed hastily erected to one side of it. Its sole window was smashed and the door was hanging off of its hinges. There was scorched decking, hexagon in shape, placed in the centre of the lawn, and standing on the decking currently occupied with beating seven shades of shit out of her younger brother, was Shiba Kuukaku.

They slowed to a stop, Yoruichi gave Soi's hand a final squeeze before she let go and hurried forward leaving her girlfriend to observe the scene before her. Groaning, Soi stuffed her hands into her coat pockets and tucked her chin into the collar – it was far too cold to be outside. The chilly weather certainly didn't seem to be having any affect on Kuukaku though, dressed in a tank top and skirt; and barefoot too, she made Soi feel weak for being so susceptible to the elements. Of course chasing poor Ganju round the decking with what appeared to be a rolled up newspaper was probably a great way to warm the blood.

"Leave the poor boy alone," Yoruichi called out. "Whatever he did, I'm sure he doesn't deserve a beating."

Kuukaku paused a moment to consider Yoruichi, Ganju foolishly took this as a chance to try to reason with his frankly insane sister rather than to flee.

"Yeah Sis," He said, turning round and holding his hands up in surrender. "A few bad grades aren't deserving of a beating."

"It wasn't a few bad grades!" Kuukaku yelled, hitting him again. She shoved him off of the decking with her foot. "Ya failing just about every subject!"

Ganju landed with a heavy thump on the abused lawn. He scrambled to his feet and fled his hands over his head, and snorting like a pig as he went. Soi rolled her eyes at the immature Shiba antics. Shiba Ganju was a source of endless fascination for her; it could be argued that being born into the wealthy Shiba family was a prime example of winning the genetic lottery. Ganju, though, proved that some people missed out on at least one lucky number. The best of the Shiba genes had clearly been used up on Kaien and Kuukaku, both were undeniably and enviably beautiful people; talented and intelligent too - the perfect products of generations of carefully arranged marriages and selective breeding.

The beautiful gene had by-passed Ganju though, and from her brief conversations with the hooligan, Soi could only conclude that the gene that stored the Shiba intelligence had missed him too, to add insult to injury it also seemed that he had been denied all the talent.

She almost felt sorry for him. She knew what it was like to be the youngest, but then none of her brothers had any of the enviable points that the elder Shiba siblings had.

Soi was shaken from her thoughts by a very pleased cry. She looked up and striding across the lawn from the broken shed, like a man on a mission and grinning like a fool, was none other than Kaien.

"Yoruichi's here!" He exclaimed loudly. Before Yoruichi could even so much as utter a greeting in reply he seized her by the wrist and pulled her forwards and off of her feet and over his shoulder, lifting her up.

"Kaien!" she yelled, her feet kicking uselessly in the air. "Put me down!"

He ignored her and walked off in the direction of the house, Yoruichi struggling and screeching all the while.

"Uh," Soi lifted a hand towards their retreating forms as though she could somehow pull Yoruichi back. "What's he doing?"

"Who knows," Kuukaku replied with a shrug. She jumped down from the decking and sauntered up to Soi. "He's just messin' with her. They've always gotta try to one up the other, she'll probably kick his ass later for it though."

Soi looked to Kuukaku and felt mildly surprised at her appearance. "Are you all right?"

"Course I am!" Kuukaku answered tossing her head back to full sneering effect. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You look tired, is all," Soi said. It was true, Kuukaku's skin was pale and dark rings underlined her eyes. Perhaps though it was simply because she wasn't wearing any make-up, usually she had eyeliner on so thick that it was like tar.

Still sneering, Kuukaku pushed Soi towards the house. "Too many late nights. Eventually they get to ya."

Inside the house they were greeted with the sight of Yoruichi in the process of wrestling her way from Kaien's grip. Somehow she had wriggled her way loose and down his back, she was balanced somewhat precariously on his hip, and was thumping him continuously on the thigh.

"Put her down," Kuukaku said. "It's embarrasin' the way you two carry on."

Both Kaien and Yoruichi stopped for a moment and looked over to Kuukaku. Shrugging Kaien let go of Yoruichi and she fell ungraciously to the floor with a resounding thump.

"Ow! Geez, Kaien. I fell right on my hip," Sitting up, Yoruichi rubbed at her hip and grimaced. She thumped him once more on the leg for good measure before clambering to her feet and dusting herself off. "Jackass."

He turned to her and smiled. "Careful," he said, patting her patronisingly on the head. "It would be a shame for me to kick your ass in front of your girly here."

"Girly?" Soi raised an eyebrow.

"Ignore him Soi," Yoruichi told her. "He's just sore cause he was dumped last week."

"Urgh!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands dramatically over his heart and staggering back. "And she stabs me in an open wound! Bad form, Shihouin."

"You deserved it," Yoruichi said. "All you had to do was marry the poor woman."

"You know that you're the only girl I'd marry," He winked at her.

"Thank goodness I'm an only child and we don't have to face that heinous future."

"Wounded again," He sighed theatrically. "When they get round to making it legal here, you can marry Shaolin-San." He turned to Soi and flashed his most winning smile.

Yoruichi froze. Her hand was half way to her head and her eyes very wide. She very much resembled a deer caught in the headlights. "Umm," She risked a look in Soi's direction.

"You're not the marrying type, are you Yoruichi-San," Urahara walked in from the hallway. He'd clearly only just woken up, his trademark hat was absent, and his hair was ruffled and sticking up in odd angles; he was also only dressed in his boxers, much to Soi's disgust, showing off his pale and skinny frame. "Morning all!"

"It's the afternoon," Kaien pointed out. He folded his arms in front of his chest and gave Urahara a hard stare. It was no secret that Kaien disliked his sister's boyfriend, but whether it was just general dislike or his being a protective older brother was anyone's guess.

"Its morning for me, Nii-San," Urahara answered.

"Don't call me Nii-San," Kaien replied his voice cold.

Urahara shrugged. "I was working late," he explained. "I had a meeting with several affable people. One of which was your delightful assistant, Yoruichi-San."

"Lisa? Why were you talking to her?" Yoruichi cocked her head to the side.

"Nothing important."

"Ah, Yadomaru-San," Kaien said dreamily. "We've all been there."

"Speak for ya self!" Kuukaku bellowed. "I ain't been there."

"I have," Kaien sounded very pleased with himself.

"I have too," Urahara concurred.

They both turned to Yoruichi who had suddenly become very interested in Kuukaku's furniture. After a moment she straightened up and, appearing to just notice that they were staring, graced them all with a look of pure innocence. "I don't know why you're all looking at me like that," She said. "I didn't have sex with her."

"Sure you didn't," Kaien didn't look fooled at all.

"She didn't," Kuukaku piped in. Everyone turned to her in surprise. Kuukaku's was clearly trying very hard not to smirk. "It was rape, ain't that right Yoruichi?"

Yoruichi nodded. "That's right. She raped me."

For someone who had apparently been raped, the Goddess certainly didn't look too bothered by it; actually there was a rather pleased smirk to her features. Soi sighed and looked away. She could accept that Yoruichi had a very long list of past partners, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear about them. Especially ones she'd inevitably have to speak to at some point. There was also the fact that her treacherous and jealous mind was busy trying to figure out just when Yoruichi had been 'raped' by her assistant.

Kaien and Urahara exchanged a glance.

"Rape?" Urahara repeated slowly. "Sure it wasn't just rough sex?"

"And you were the uke?" Kaien added.

"By those standards, you must rape poor Soi-Chan here almost every night," Urahara said with a slight snicker.

They laughed. Soi didn't though; she wrapped her arms around herself feeling suddenly very cold. She looked up, Yoruichi wasn't laughing either; she had gone very pale and was staring hard at the floor.

It had been two weeks since ... _that_ had happened_. _They hadn't spoken of it again and Soi wasn't in any kind of hurry to bring it up. Two weeks and they had, in a sense, grown closer. They talked more she had noticed; but they had also managed to distance themselves from each other. The intimacy seemed to have gone from their relationship, and it worried Soi.

A crash from the kitchen caused all heads to turn. Kaien frowned. "What's that?"

"It'll be the booze," Kuukaku said happily. She pointed at Urahara. "Go get dressed. You," She turned to her brother. "You come help me with the beer."

The two Shiba's and Urahara walked from the room leaving Soi alone with Yoruichi. Chewing on her lip, Soi risked another glance to her girlfriend. Yoruichi hadn't moved at all, she was still staring at the floor a distant look in her eyes.

"Yoruichi," Soi murmured. "You know that I... what happened between us... that I don't think of it as-"

"I know," Yoruichi answered quickly. Her eyes snapped up to Soi. "I know you don't." She forced a smile to her face, but Soi could see her throat working as she continuously swallowed.

"Good," Soi said quietly.

"We should probably go help," Yoruichi pointed half-heartedly towards the kitchen. "Sounds like Renji and company are having problems."

Soi nodded and followed Yoruichi from the room. She could feel the tense and uncomfortable aura that Yoruichi was giving off, a cold air settling between them. For two weeks they had danced around the subject, for two weeks they had been pretending that there was nothing wrong and for two weeks a heavy blanket of silence had slowly been smothering their relationship.

She had noticed that they talked more; about their day, what they'd done, work, college; so many frivolous things. In truth, she had only just realised, they had said absolutely nothing. She had held her silence, and so had Yoruichi. Soi was only just realising her mistake in not talking about it to Yoruichi, only just seeing the frigid divide it had left between them.

Sighing, Soi ran a hand through her hair and ruffled it. She kept close to Yoruichi, kept her eyes locked on the Goddess's form, taking in all of her movements, her actions and demeanour. Yoruichi seemed to be resolutely avoiding any form of contact with Soi at the moment. She stood stiff, her stance rigid and her eyes locked on the furthest point from the Chinese girl. It didn't completely surprise Soi, she had known Yoruichi long enough to recognise when something was bothering her. It wasn't so much that Yoruichi ignored problems in the vague hope that they would solve themselves, so much as her acting as though she was above mere human problems and that they were someone else inconvenience.

She moved closer to Yoruichi and let her fingers brush against the Goddess's hand. Yoruichi jumped slightly and glanced at Soi before quickly turning away. "Something wrong?" Yoruichi asked.

Soi considered for a moment and the shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong," She lied. Now wasn't the time or place to be having any kind of serious conversation.

Tomorrow she decided, she'd let Yoruichi have tonight; to enjoy the party and then tomorrow they could talk.

* * *

**I don't actually have anything interesting to say here. No chapter notes or little insights; nothing. Oh well, it happens.**

**Thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think. **


	11. Come Tonight Part II Grind

**This chapter was really fun to write. It's a little bit different in its execution from the previous chapters, the perspective shifts around a lot, hopefully this isn't too jarring. **

**

* * *

**

Come Tonight Part II

_Grind_

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's had sat on much more comfortable thrones.

Baring his teeth he shuffled back, his backside sliding up the cold metal, until he could lean back onto the windscreen of his car. Legs propped up and hands behind his head; he cut the very picture of relaxation. Quite the contradiction; considering the pain in his arse. Just up the street from him he could see the house he had been posted to watch; cars were parked outside stretching along the quiet road and flocks of people herded round the front garden, cramming into the house, and all acting the fool.

He hated them. Every single fucking one of them.

He hated the pretentious air they all cast about them, the falseness of their sincerity - the way they all acted as though their insignificant lives were actually worth a shit. He sat up, arms resting on his knees and he worked his throat, snorting and hacking up phlegm into his mouth. Curling his tongue he spat the glob of spit and snot in their general direction. It landed with a dissatisfying splat in the centre of the tarmac.

Given the opportunity, given the appropriate means - he'd kill the fucking lot of them.

/\/\/\

There were far too many people in the room. All of them packed in tightly like sardines in a can, or ducks in a barrel, either way it was the worst possible set up. Kensei gritted his teeth though, he was ever the professional, and tried very hard not to shove the idiots that surrounded him on their asses. Thankfully he was taller than most here, and casting his eye above the bopping crowd of intoxicated youths - forgetting completely that they would be a similar age to him- he looked for the single biggest annoyance in his life.

_Where is she? _He thought. It always happened like this, she was too much of a liability with absolutely no sense of responsibility. He wondered why the hell he was always placed with her.

Someone knocked hard into his back.

"Watch it!" he growled spinning round. A lanky youth with spiky black hair stumbled slightly. "Careful where you're going, kid." Kensei was trying very hard not to beat the crap out of all these thoughtless idiots.

"Whoa!" The youth cried. "Sorry man." He looked back over his shoulder at Kensei, his eyes unfocused and clearly quite drunk. Taking a moment the boy tried to focus on Kensei. "Hey, are you…"

"No," Kensei answered quickly. "I'm no one." He pushed the boy back into the awaiting arms of the crowd. Cracking his knuckles Kensei looked around him again. He had to get to a quieter part of the house, he couldn't see shit here.

/\/\/\

Soi couldn't have picked a worse place to stand. It was too late now; the crowd was too thick and heavy with sweaty grinding people for her to move. She was, to her annoyance, standing right next to a speaker which was happily thumping out a heavy bass line. She was also trapped in a conversation with Kira and a very drunk and depressed Renji. Really, Renji could have picked better people to cheer him up. Soi's own brand of disinterest and Kira's whining were exactly what the tattooed man didn't need.

"Years now, we've been together for years," He bemoaned while Kira patted him ineffectually on the shoulder. "And now, after all that work, she just goes off with some other guy?"

"It's not over yet, man," Kira soothed. "You just need to show her you care."

"I have shown her I care!" Renji bellowed flinging his arm in a wide arc and spilling his drink. "Nothing I do is good enough."

Soi rolled her eyes. From the way Renji was acting, she could see why Rukia would look elsewhere. Kira was still patting Renji on the shoulder, his pale face nodding along with Renji as the red-head listed his woes. She sipped her drink, some foul tasting liquor, and tried to block out the noise of the party. She looked about the room, there were so many people crammed in that she couldn't actually make one out from the other. The crowd had merged into one single amorphous being, swaying in a sick parody of a mating ritual, its many fingered limbs reaching upwards, and grinding in on itself to satisfy its intoxicated lust.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you Soi-Chan? Don't you?" Renji asked suddenly. He took hold of Soi's hand and pulled her closer to him, their faces were inches apart, and for a terrifying second Soi thought that he was going to try to kiss her. Instead he grimaced and started whinging again. "Women are bitches." He continued, his breath reeking of stale beer.

"Huh?" Soi yanked her hand back from his clammy grasp. "Don't call me Soi-Chan." She wiped her hand on her trousers. "And no, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah you do," Renji insisted. He swayed slightly his hand falling heavily on her shoulder, he gave it a squeeze. "Cause you're like me." He pawed at her top. "Always running around after your woman, never getting anything in return."

That was a disturbing thought. She'd clearly hit an all time low to be compared to Renji and his saccharine fawning. Did people really see her relationship with Yoruichi like that? Now she had something else to add to her ever growing list of concerns. She pushed Renji away from her and he stumbled before tripping over his own feet and landing on his ass on the floor. He gave her a long accusing look before his head fell forwards into his hands. Soi looked away; there was nothing more depressing than seeing a drunk crying over spilt milk. She took a long drink.

"But I loved her!" He mumbled into his hands. "All I wanted to do was spuff in her clunge!"

That charming nugget of information caused Soi to choke on her drink.

/\/\/\

"There you are," Kensei growled recognising the shock of green hair nestled among the bodies. Reaching out a hand he seized the small shoulder of his partner and pulled her round towards him. Mashiro spun on one foot, the other stuck out comically in the air nearly tripping the surrounding people.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed loudly in her annoying voice. "That was mean! You nearly spilled my drink!"

"What?" He stared at her. She had a tall glass clutched in both hands, filled to the brim with a bright red cocktail of some description, and a silly straw poking out the top. "You can't drink that!"

Mashiro placed her lips to the straw and took an enthusiastic suck. "Why not?"

"We're working," He seethed. "We're not here to have fun."

"You're never here to have fun," She replied with a perky smile. "Try it, it's real tasty!" She offered the drink up to him.

"No! Now put it down and get back to work."

"But it's booooing!" She whined her voice getting more annoying by the syllable. "I want to dance!" Her eyes lit up at the thought.

Kensei was fast losing patience. "We are here to do a job," He reiterated. "You don't have time to dance."

Mashiro turned to him and pouted and he only just realised what she was wearing. When they had arrived she had been covered by a long coat that very nearly reached her ankles, she had since discarded the coat and he had a full view of the skin tight white outfit she had chosen to wear. It left very little to the imagination. He was also now noticing that practically every male eye in the vicinity was all over her.

_Freaking wonderful, _He grimaced. Not only did he have to worry about getting the job done, but he'd also have to protect his woefully naïve partner from randy drunks.

She sucked again on her drink. Her lips were stained a scandalous red from the liquid, She slid them down and around the straw, cradled it between her puckered lips; her throat working. Her large eyes lifted and fixed on Kensei's.

He swallowed. Sometimes he wondered if she was half as naïve as she came across.

/\/\/\

"Shaolin-San!" Kaien called over with a wave. "Need a refill?"

Soi pushed a random out of her way as she made her way over to the table that Kaien was standing behind. It was piled with half empty bottles and plastic cups. Unlike the rest of the house, the make-shift bar wasn't surrounded by people. It was probably for the best, the small table didn't look too sturdy and a half-hearted shove would probably cause it to collapse. It wasn't any form of consideration for the revellers that stopped them from crowding the bar. Standing on either side of the table, looking relaxed, were Ikkaku and Yumichika. Soi had a feeling that they had been acting as unofficial bouncers - greedily guarding the booze. Not that she blamed them though; clearly more people had shown up than expected. Every corner of the house seemed to be packed with sweaty, drunken morons all trying to out-class each other in the idiots stakes.

She placed her empty glass on the table and it wobbled under the new weight. "No," She answered Kaien even though she probably did. "I'm just looking for Yoruichi. Have you seen her?"

Kaien picked up her glass and started pouring her a drink regardless, "You were on Bacardi, right?" he asked. "And no, I haven't seen Yoruichi-San in a while."

"She's probably sampling the youth of the night," Yumichika unhelpfully supplied. His hair was, as to be expected, beautifully styled; and e was dressed in tight fitting jeans and a rather hideous shirt that he had neglected to button all the way up. He was also, much to Soi's disgust, wearing make-up.

"Think I saw her with Kuukaku-San a while back," Ikkaku rather more helpfully supplied. "They were out back playing with the fireworks." Unlike his 'friend', Ikkaku hadn't put in any effort in his attire; he was dressed in his black work-shirt with the kanji for eleven emblazoned over the left of his chest and a pair of worn, old jeans. Though his bald head did seem extra shiny tonight, Soi wondered; not for the first time if he polished it.

Soi shook her head. "She's not there anymore, I've just been there," She said, trying not to look directly at his gleaming bonce for fear of permanent eye damage. "Did you bring your car, Ikkaku-San?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Renji's wasted," she explained. "He'll need someone to give him a lift home." Renji used to work for the Eleventh Bar and was pretty good friends with Ikkaku, she knew he would make sure that the red head made it home safely. Never let it be said that she didn't look out for people, even if they were fools who didn't deserve her sympathy.

"That idiot!" Ikkaku said with a sneer. "Bet he's all depressed 'cause Rukia dumped him."

Kaien looked up suddenly. "I thought Byakuya put an end to them a while back."

"He did," Yumichika confirmed. "But Abarai thought that it was only a temporary thing and that they'd get back together. Seems that Rukia has grown bored of him, she's gone off with that Kurosaki kid."

"Oh," Kaien said. He handed Soi her drink and then rubbed the back of his head, trying to look nonchalant. "So she's already seeing someone, then?"

Soi stared at him incredulous. "Haven't you just broken up with someone?" Not that long ago either, if Yoruichi had been correct; she couldn't believe that he'd already be sniffing around someone else.

"He did. And Kuchiki Rukia is hardly rebound material," Ikkaku said. "Besides, isn't she supposed to be starting work at the Thirteenth bar soon? You should never have sex with your colleagues."

Soi and Kaien stared at him. Soi glanced at Yumichika who was preoccupied with inspecting his manicure, and then she looked back to Ikkaku. Shaking her head she muttered under her breath; "Fucking hypocrite," before turning away from them and heading back into the swarm of bodies. She really hated to be blocked in by people this way, but at least she was in a familiar place and could easily navigate her way around.

She slipped through the crowd, shoving people where she had to and simply easing others aside. Finally, and miraculously without spilling her drink, she emerged from the crowd and was able to gulp down a lungful of cooler air. It was getting to be increasingly hot in here. She smiled; she could see Yoruichi, cigarette in hand, talking to Hisagi. She was dressed in skin tight jeans with a loose fabric belt that knotted at her hip, the left over length draping down her right leg and a low cut black top with thin straps that showed off a little bit too much cleavage. It should have been casual; it was meant to be casual, but the clothes clung too well to Yoruichi's frame, accentuating her natural curves and inviting the eyes of passers-by to sneak a glance. Soi suppressed the irrational flare of jealousy that this caused. There was no point in getting angry at the unworthy masses, they could only imagine, she alone knew just how good Yoruichi looked without her clothes.

She chose to wilfully ignore the fact that, in all actuality, there were probably plenty of people here who shared that knowledge.

Soi made her way over to the pair, throwing a hard stare at anyone who dared to check-out Yoruichi. It was clear that Hisagi, like Renji, was also a little worse for wear. His eyes were unfocused, he was swaying on his feet and his hair ruffled and slicked with what Soi could only assume was sweat. He was gripping a can of beer in one hand; the other was against the wall propping him up. Soi stopped next to them and scowled at Hisagi. His head was bent forward, his jaw was slack, and he was gawping right down Yoruichi's top. Soi brought her hand up, sharply catching him on his bottom jaw with a slap, and snapping his mouth shut and his head forcefully back.

"Her face is up there genius," She seethed.

"Ow," He mumbled, his hand going to his jaw to gently rub it.

Yoruichi laughed. "Look at you, protecting my honour." She smiled at Soi. "Having a fun night so far?"

Soi raised an eyebrow. "Not really," there was no point in lying. "Renji's smashed, Kira's having kittens and it's far too hot in here."

"That's true," Yoruichi agreed fanning herself with her hand. "It's absolutely freezing outside though." She took a long drag from her cigarette and turned her head so that she didn't breathe the smoke in Soi's direction. Unlike everyone else in the house, Yoruichi didn't seem to be coated with sweat; the older woman may have been complaining about the heat, but she certainly wasn't showing any outward signs of it. Hisagi's hair was close to being drenched with sweat, and even Soi could feel that the small of her own back was slick with it. It almost made Soi mad that these human inconveniences didn't seem to touch the Goddess.

Hisagi took a swig from his can, belched, and then stumbled slightly before he grinned goofily at Soi. "You know, you're really short."

She stared at him for a long moment while he continued to sway on his feet. "Idiot," She turned back to Yoruichi, who seemed to be looking for somewhere to stub out her cigarette. "Just drop it on the floor, everyone else is."

"And ruin Kuukaku's rug? She'll have a fit," She continued to search about her.

Soi snatched Hisagi's beer from him and offered it to her. Yoruichi dropped the smouldering butt into the can with a grateful smile, and Soi handed it back to Hisagi. A part of her hoped that he'd be too drunk to notice and would take a drink.

"What are we drinking?" Yoruichi asked, taking the glass from Soi's hand and bringing it to her lips, she tipped it back and took a healthy mouthful, swallowed and then grimaced. "It's a bit on the strong side, isn't it?"

Soi shrugged. "Kaien made it," She explained, she had no idea exactly how much Bacardi he'd tipped into the glass. She took the glass back off of Yoruichi and sipped the drink, Yoruichi was right; it was strong. Probably best not to let the older woman have any more of it then, by the end of the glass she'd have by-passed tipsy and would be onto her infamous strip tease.

"Urgh,' Hisagi dropped his ruined drink on the floor. "I think I'm going to leave you ladies alone." He straightened up. "Besides, I just saw Rangiku-San. Maybe I'm in for a chance, you know, seeing as Ichimaru left her." He staggered off and melded into the amorphous mass.

"Gin and Rangiku broke up?" Yoruichi said looking surprised. "But they've been together for years."

Soi shrugged. "First I've heard of it." Of course, she didn't really care either.

Yoruichi was frowning. "I never thought that they'd break up."

"Couples break up all the time," Soi said, not seeing as why this should be such big news. "Even couples who have been together for years.

"But it's not just that they've been together years, they've been a couple since they were kids."

"High school sweethearts? How quaint."

"Longer than that," Yoruichi explained. "They've been together since they were _little_ kids. They grew up on the same street, went to the same schools, and joined the same clubs as each other. They've always been together."

Soi shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "Perhaps they just grew apart." _Or perhaps Matsumoto realized what a creepy bastard Ichimaru is_.

Yoruichi looked troubled by it all though, she chewed on her thumb nail, her eyebrows were knitted together and she was staring hard at the floor. Soi reached out and took hold of Yoruichi's hand, pulling it away from her face, and she tried to catch the Goddess's eye. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Yoruichi turned to her. "Yeah, I'm fine." She pulled her hand from Soi's grasp and stepped back from the Chinese girl, her head turned away.

Soi's hand hung in the air between them, it was trembling. She brought the extended limb back towards her body and wrapped it around herself, small comfort; but it would have to do. Despite her words, Soi could tell that Yoruichi was far from okay; she hadn't been okay since earlier today, when Urahara had made that idiot joke. No, that was wrong. Yoruichi hadn't been okay since _that _incident, and despite Soi's earlier confidence that she knew what was going through Yoruichi's mind, she was now forced to admit that she didn't have a fucking clue.

'... _Because I think I let something slip by me ... but it's okay, because I know now...'_

What a joke; she didn't know anything. A small vicious part of her mind scathingly thought that it should have been her to be the one to be reverting in on herself. After all, she was the one who was violated; she would have been well within her right to run from Yoruichi screaming rape. What right did Yoruichi have to be acting as though she was the victim?

Soi turned away and sipped her drink. Those were dark thoughts that she absolutely refused to pay any attention to. Taking a moment to gather herself, to summon up the strength to actually do this, she turned back to Yoruichi. "Yoruichi," She said, raising her voice so that she could be heard over the din. "I think we need to talk."

/\/\/\

Kuukaku's breath hissed out from between her lips, clouding in the air and then dissipating with the breeze. She had spent the past half hour setting up the firework display, hell it just wouldn't have been one of her parties if she didn't blow something up. She kicked a can away with the toe of her boot as she stalked from the garden and back up into the house. The house was jam packed; more had turned up than she'd thought would. It was always like this though. More people turned up every year; she no longer had the room for them.

Once inside she could see the havoc that had been wreaked upon her humble abode. She curled her lip and sneered, she could see broken glass on the floor, the rug had been ripped up and her furniture was being treated like a child's jungle gym. She cast her eye around the room searching for her friends, or perhaps Kaien; he'd probably be better company by this point in the night. Chances were that Yoruichi would be smashed, Kisuke loaded and the kid would be in a huff. Kuukaku didn't really find Soi to be the best company anyways; far too serious and far too angry with the world for her taste. Kuukaku wasn't too sure exactly what Yoruichi saw in the small girl. The kid didn't have a good attitude and with her constant scowl wasn't exactly the best looking girl that Yoruichi had dragged home. Still, plenty of people – her brothers included – had questioned what she saw in Kisuke, so she supposed she had no right to question Yoruichi's choice in partner, though she might have found one with a sense of humour.

Kuukaku glanced around the room, it was getting late now and the lightweights were already down and out, some of the heavier drinkers were also starting to sway on their feet. Over in one corner of the room, the least populated as chances would have it, were Yoruichi and Soi. Kuukaku watched them; they'd been acting strange recently. Actually, Yoruichi had been acting strange; Kuukaku wasn't too sure what would be strange for the kid.

Whenever Soi moved closer to Yoruichi, the dark skinned woman seemed to flinch away. Kuukaku frowned. It was usually the other way around; with Yoruichi displaying overzealous public affection and the small girl blushing and running away from it. Now though, Yoruichi looked trapped. Soi seemed to offer her drink to Yoruichi who, thankfully, refused with a shake of her head. Shrugging, the small Chinese girl brought the glass to her mouth and tipped it back chugging it all down in one go.

Kuukaku couldn't help an impressed whistle escaping her; she'd had no idea that the kid could knock drinks back like that. She'd have to invite her round for some Sake some time.

Yoruichi was looking away from Soi, her hands hanging loosely by her sides. Soi moved closer to her and tried to take hold of one of her hands, but Yoruichi pulled away. Were they arguing? Kuukaku couldn't hear shit over the music, but it certainly looked like they were. Yoruichi was tense; she was avoiding eye contact with Soi, preferring to look at the floor or the far wall, her fingers twitching against her leg. Finally Soi seemed to have had enough, she spun round and stomped away, and then, to Kuukaku's surprise, she stopped and turned back.

/\/\/\

Boredom had finally gotten the best of Grimmjow. He leapt to his feet, the bonnet of his car denting beneath his weight. Hands free from his pockets; he flexed his fingers curling them into fists and back again. A growl rose in his throat and his lips curled back into a snarl. Leaping down from his car he landed lightly on his feet, and he stalked towards the flock. Shoulders rolling, legs powering him forward, he kept his eyes locked in front of him; searching for a likely target. People backed away from him as he went by; scared eyes, frightened gasps and startled jumps. It only intensified his hatred of them.

No one, not one of them was anything; they were trash, worms to be trodden beneath his boot. He was a god among these insects.

/\/\/\

Soi gripped Yoruichi's hand tightly in her own and worked her way through the crowd, pulling the Goddess along behind her, and they turned towards the staircase. It had clearly reached the point in the night where people were starting to pair off and find their own space. At the bottom of the stairs were two she didn't recognise lip-locked and hands everywhere, she stepped around them and headed up the stairs pulling Yoruichi along behind her. It struck her as strange that it was her leading Yoruichi off to a more secluded area and not the other way around. Not that Soi was planning on doing... _that _here, of all places; she was only trying to find a quieter place to talk. Her earlier plan of waiting until tomorrow to talk had just been recently tossed aside, since it had become apparent that Yoruichi was going to pretend that everything was alright despite them being anything but.

Soi stopped and Yoruichi bumped into her, and Soi resisted the urge to shiver and lean back into her. She had hoped that there would be less people upstairs, that Kuukaku would have had the sense to block off a few rooms; apparently though the Shiba woman didn't care who rifled through her home. Across the landing Soi could make out several couples all folded into embraces, others were heading into rooms giggling as they went. Mentally she gave herself a slow round of applause; she'd just brought Yoruichi to the mating-grounds. She waited for Yoruichi to make some sort of quip about the surroundings, but the tanned woman didn't; she remained silent behind Soi. Sighing, and ignoring the grinding couples, Soi ploughed on bringing Yoruichi with her. She stopped at a door that wasn't closed, and placed her hand against it giving it a gentle push, almost afraid of what she might find inside. Unfortunately Yoruichi didn't seem to care what she'd find in the room, and she pushed past Soi barging into the room and bringing the younger girl with her. She stopped and a grin spread up her face, Soi found herself torn between feeling happy that Yoruichi was grinning, and mildly horrified at what she was grinning at.

"Oh, geez!" Soi turned her head away from the sight, a furious blush staining her cheeks. Across from her was a tall, muscular man with silver hair, and a shocked expression on his face. It wasn't him that caused Soi to feel such horror, but rather the young woman who was currently preoccupied down in the man's lap. Soi was even more horrified that the woman didn't seem to feel the need to stop what she was doing despite the audience.

"Sorry about that," Yoruichi said, a lop-sided smirk rising up her face. "We'll find a different room. Carry on." Yoruichi pushed Soi from the room and closed the door behind them. "This way," She said taking hold of Soi's hand and leading the smaller girl away from the room. Eventually they came to another closed door, Yoruichi tuned the handle and ushered Soi inside. The lights were out and Soi stood blinking for a moment, trying to let her eyes focus, but then Yoruichi flicked the light switch and the room was rather dully illuminated. It was a bathroom, a rather it would be eventually; it was clearly in the mid-process of being decorated. There was nothing down on the floor and Soi's feet thudded against the stained floorboards as she stepped further inside.

"Not as comfy as a bedroom, but way more privacy," Yoruichi said as she clicked the lock on the door with a flick of her wrist. She turned around and leaned against the door, her hands placed behind her back; looking relaxed. "I really didn't have you pinned as the quickie type."

"Ha ha," Soi replied. It probably did look like that though. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, tossing her braids backwards and listening to the familiar 'ting' of the metal rings clinging together, it was strange, but she found the sound somewhat comforting. "Yoruichi, I think we need to talk about what happened."

Yoruichi kept her eyes locked on Soi, her expression blank, her hands still behind her back, and not saying anything.

Soi swallowed, already regretting bringing it up. "These past couple of weeks, well, you've been acting weird. Not that it's just you. I've probably been acting weird too. I guess we've both been acting weird." It all came out in a bit of a rush; she was babbling. "Because it's great that we've been spending so much time together, and doing stuff, but well... we haven't been, uh..."

"Having sex?" Yoruichi suggested.

"Yeah, having ...sex..." Soi finished lamely. She wondered if she could blame her blush on alcohol. Her eyes lifted and she looked to Yoruichi, hoping to see some form of emotion on her face; anything would do, she found herself hoping that Yoruichi would be grinning and ready to rip the piss out of her. There was a smile on Yoruichi's face, but it was a small, bitter smile, accompanied by a hard look in her eyes that reminded Soi of the cold look she had seen in those golden orbs two weeks ago.

Yoruichi's head fell back against the door and she let out a long breath. "Could this not have waited?"

"No," Soi said, shaking her head. "I don't think it could. I was going to wait, until tomorrow, but well... You've been avoiding me all night."

"No I haven't."

"Yes, you have. Even when I've been standing with you, you were pulling away from me."

Yoruichi exhaled, her eyes still had that distant look, and she pushed herself off from the door. Soi opened her mouth to continue but all that came out was a yelp of surprise. Yoruichi was inches from her face.

_When did she..?_

Soi hadn't even seen her move. One moment Yoruichi had been standing next to the door, the next she was in front of Soi; her golden eyes piercing Soi's silver ones. Strong, dark hands cupped Soi's face and held her stock still, her thumb brushed up Soi's pale cheek. Yoruichi's eyes were still cold though.

"You should have said," Yoruichi's voice was low, barely above a whisper. "If I had known that all you wanted was a bit of attention."

"It's not just th – mmph!" Soi never got a chance to finish her sentence. Yoruichi's lips were crushed against her own, hands clasped to the back of her head holding her still. It took a Soi a moment to fully realize what was happening, it took another moment for her brain to actually kick into gear and start functioning again, by the next moment it was clearly too late. Any thoughts of anger, of outrage, were washed away completely with the feel of Yoruichi's tongue in her mouth, and the only cognitive thought that somehow managed to bubble to the surface of her mind was to tilt her head to the side to allow her Goddess easier access.

With a slight sigh, Yoruichi ended the kiss, her hands dropping form Soi's face. She stepped back from Soi, her eyes wide in surprise; shock, perhaps a little fearful. Her bottom lip almost seemed to tremble as she swallowed, her hands clenching and unclenching in what was clearly an involuntary gesture. "I, I," Yoruichi looked lost, her eyes darting about the room; from Soi, to the door, back to Soi again. "I didn't mean to do that. I mean I did, but I meant it to be – "

This time Yoruichi yelped and she tried to step back, but Soi had a hold of her hand and pulled her back. Soi's free hand went to Yoruichi's neck and pulled her down, their lips meeting half-way, and the smaller girl kissed Yoruichi with all the crushing force that the Goddess had bestowed upon her earlier.

Soi's heart was hammering in her chest; she could hear it thrumming in her ears, pulsing through her whole body. Or perhaps that was the feel of Yoruichi. She wasn't sure, she wasn't entirely sure she cared. All she knew was that she had missed this feeling of closeness, which no amount of playful banter, light pecks or quick kisses, could ever equate to this feeling of Yoruichi pressed against her body; of the warmth, of the electricity, or those wonderful shivers she felt in the very fibre of her being. So when Yoruichi's arms wrapped around her, pulling her in closer, tightly secured, she thought that she just might die from the overload to her senses.

The rest of the world phased out. She could dimly hear the music in the rooms below, the feel of the bass beating through the floorboards, and collective gasps of the revellers so far beneath them. They didn't matter, none of them mattered.

Oh, how she wished they could have gone on ignoring the rest of the world.

The screech of speakers followed by the loud crash of broken glass jolted them apart. Soi gasped, her heart still going a mile-a-minute, chest heaving as she tried to suck much needed air into her lungs. Yoruichi was quicker to react; her eyes darting to the closed door, a frown creasing her brow. Someone below screamed, and then another, and then another still. Soi went to the small window and peered out, people were trying to escape, shoving past each other; crushing each other as they fled. Others were trying to get inside, jubilant expressions on their faces.

"What's going on?" She wondered aloud. The noise from downstairs seemed to double, and Soi spun round to find the bathroom door open and the tail end of purple hair flicking from sight. "Yoruichi!" She bellowed after her girlfriend's retreating form. "Shit!" She ran to the open door, her hand grasping the frame and using it to turn sharply, her feet lightly skipping down the stairs.

At least the house was emptier. There were shouts and gasps, collective groans of disappointment, and whispered cheers coming from the back garden. For a brief second, for a hopeful moment, Soi thought that perhaps Kuukaku was sending off her fireworks. She couldn't hear the bangs though, the crackles and whistling screams of the fireworks. Her feet carried her towards the garden, apprehension settling on her; she couldn't see Yoruichi anywhere.

A crowd had gathered in the garden, circling like vultures around a carcass. She pushed her way into it, ignoring the feel of sweat and groping hands, the pungent smell of alcohol and sweat. Through a gap she could see what had captured everyone's attention – a fight. She almost rolled her eyes at the cliché, at the pretention that so many people had panicked and gotten so excited over such a stupid thing.

That was until she saw exactly who was fighting. They were both tall, both dressed in equally appalling attire in vain attempts to show off their physiques, and both with bright hair that demanded attention; one red, the other blue. Renji was drunk, his movements' way off, his swings cast too far and his stance wobbly. His opponent was stone cold sober, and clearly toying with Abarai. Vaguely, Soi recognised the man – his arrogance, his stance, his sneer. She also knew that Renji was in trouble. Where was Kira? Hisagi? Ikkaku and Yumichika? Why wasn't anyone helping him?

Renji's fist flung out towards the man, too wide, it was dodged easily and with a barking laugh. He was at the club, Soi realized, he had been in the private area with them; Kurosaki knew him.

Faster than it should have been possible, the man closed the gap between himself and Renji, planting a fist hard into Renji's abdomen; it sounded like a shovel slapping against wet cement. The crowd all winced and gasped as though they had felt the blow themselves. Renji staggered, he retched and wheezed, dropping to one knee coughing up phlegm and blood.

_Grimmjow_

She remembered his name. Arrogant, asshole, and able to back it up with his fists; that's what Kurosaki had said. She believed him. Although fighting a drunk was easy enough, she could see by Grimmjow's movements that he was a fighter; and a very good one at that.

Circling round Renji's wheezing form, Grimmjow tossed his head back and snarled, his eyes lighting up at his easy victory. Moving in he raised his fist to deliver what would be the final blow, his eyes gleaming like fire. Soi could feel herself cringing as she waited for the hammer to fall.

"Renji!" a voice cried out.

Grimmjow's fist flew down towards Renji's exposed head, and then stopped. The crowd all stepped back and gasped in surprise. Grasping with both arms onto Grimmjow's arm, lifted off of the ground; her feet dangling, was Kuchiki Rukia.

_Fuck! _It suddenly seemed like a very good idea to stop this fight. She hoped that this Grimmjow would recognise the girl hanging off of his arm, that he wouldn't do anything as stupid as touch Rukia. Certain families were untouchable, and the Kuchiki's were one of them. Either Grimmjow didn't recognise her or he didn't care. He swung round, Rukia slipping from his arm, and to Soi's surprise, landing nimbly on her feet, a look of sheer determination on her face.

"When you step into the circle," Grimmjow growled. "You best be prepared to fight!" He lunged forward, his left hand outstretched. Rukia tried to dodge back, but he was far too quick. He seized her forearm and dragged her roughly towards him; his face was inches from Rukia's, his teeth bared in an ecstatic snarl. "Even girlies such as yourself!" His right fist raised high in the air.

_He wouldn't_ Soi thought, her eyes following the deliberately slow rise of that deadly fist. Apparently he would. His fist arced down straight for Rukia's exposed face. Soi pushed forward through the crowd trying to get to the two figures, not really sure what she was planning on doing once she got there. Besides get her ass kicked.

"Grimmjow!"

Soi stopped and looked, Kurosaki burst through the crowd and charged towards the sneering combatant. Grimmjow flung Rukia away and turned to face his newer, clearly much more interesting, opponent. Soi couldn't help but feel that Kurosaki was an idiot, why the hell had he announced his attack? It would have been far more sensible to take Grimmjow down when he was distracted.

Rukia scuttled over to Renji's still form to check on him. No one paid any notice to her though; all eyes were fixed on the two trading blows in the centre of the ring. At first Soi thought that they were evenly matched, Ichigo certainly seemed to be keeping up with Grimmjow, he even managed to land a few blows. It wasn't until Grimmjow hooted with delight that she realised the taller of the two had been toying with Ichigo.

Ichigo charged forward again, a growl ripping form his throat, arms forward; possibly going for a tackle. Grimmjow lifted his leg, his knee driving into Ichigo's gut, doubling over the orange haired kid. Ichigo stumbled, turned, and Grimmjow planted his fist right into his jaw. Soi was pretty sure she heard it before she saw it, that resounding 'crack' as Grimmjow's knuckles crunched into Ichigo's jaw. Ichigo staggered, went down to one knee, tried to get back up and failed. He slumped down and was still.

Grimmjow threw back his head and laughed. "Anyone else?" he looked around the crowd. "Anyone else want to try me?"

Someone bumped into Soi and she staggered, someone else stepped in front of her and she could no longer see what was going on. The group had gone silent, tense; clearly no one wanted to pick up where Ichigo had left off.

"Nobody?" Grimmjow sounded disappointed.

A gasp rippled through the crowd and Soi struggled to squeeze through a gap to get a better view. She heard Grimmjow laugh and she realised that someone had entered the circle and was facing him.

"Another girl, eh?" Grimmjow sounded very amused. "You should know, I have no problem beating up the girlies. 'Specially the girlies who think they can enter a fighters circle."

"You're a fool to think you can touch me."

Soi's heart lurched. She recognised that voice; she recognised the tone, the words, everything about it. She pushed forward desperately, shoving people aside, and finally she made it to the front of the ring and could see the newest person to enter. Her whole world slowed down as she watched the figure standing there opposite the rabid Grimmjow.

_Yoruichi..._

_

* * *

_

**Eep! Or something to that general effect. **

**I like writing fight scenes, I should really write some sort of action based fic, or I could just shove loads more fights in this one, whatever. I also really liked writing from Grimmjow's perspective, and Kensei's too; they're really fun characters to play with. The Vizards don't get enough love in fan fiction; Grimmjow gets a little bit too much.**

**Thank you for reading; and for all the reviews and support so far – you guys rawk!**


	12. Come Tonight Part III Unbreak, Unchain

Come Tonight Part III

_Unbreak, Unchain_

An unsettling stillness had fallen over the spectators. They were hungry; Soi could see it reflected in their gleaming eyes, in the way they licked their lips, hands twitching. They wanted to see someone be beaten, be broken – they wanted to see blood. The fallen forms of both Renji and Ichigo were still lying prone in the circle. Rukia had dragged Ichigo closer to Renji so that she could keep an eye on them both. Soi was mildly impressed that the Kuchiki princess hadn't lost it, she'd expected her to fly into a panic, but so far she was calm and collected. Rukia's large eyes kept flittering up to the two fighters. Panic was something that Soi was trying to stave off. Her eyes were locked on one person and one person only; Yoruichi.

When Soi had first seen Yoruichi standing opposite Grimmjow, her heart had lurched up to her throat; beating a fast tattoo. Now it seemed to be residing in her gut, and she wasn't too sure it was actually doing anything, she had completely forgotten how to breathe.

The two fighters were standing still. Grimmjow's head was tossed back, an ecstatic snarl rippling up his features. Yoruichi had a hard look carved into her beautiful face; her eyes were cold and fixed upon Grimmjow. And yet her arms were hanging loosely by her sides, and her stance was far too casual. Soi's mind was screaming, she mentally urged Yoruichi to assume a stance; any kind of stance. Hadn't she seen how fast Grimmjow moved? The ferocity of his attacks? If she had, then she clearly didn't care. Yoruichi stepped to the side, her left foot over her right, and the combatants started circling.

"Caution, eh?" Grimmjow sneered. "It won't do you any fuckin' good!" He lunged, faster than should have been possible. Soi's whole body tensed for the impact, but it never came. At the last second Yoruichi simply stepped out of his path; pivoting on her left foot, and Grimmjow shot past her. He skidded, spun, and went for Yoruichi again. Almost lazily, the Goddess dodged his frenzied attacks. They continued; Grimmjow on the attack, lashing out with his fists. His attacks were precise, fast and completely brutal. Soi could tell that it wasn't just a case of him being quick and strong; he was also a very good fighter. He was probably professionally trained, but seemed to rely more on his base instincts making his moves very difficult to predict. But for all his speed, for all his ferocity and his power; he may as well have been fighting an actual god. He couldn't even get close to Yoruichi. She wasn't fighting back, her arms still hung relaxed at her sides, her stance still casual. Every time he got close to her she stepped out of his way at the last second, or her body twisted gracefully away from his strikes.

"You nearly had me there," She said, a smile tugging at her lips, as yet another of his attacks missed her.

"Bitch!" He roared, swinging round again going for a kick this time. Yoruichi danced back, her whole body going into her graceful movements. He attempted a roundhouse kick, his leg ripping through the air towards Yoruichi's exposed head; but it sailed harmlessly over the Goddess. There was surprise etched on Grimmjow's face. Yoruichi had leaned far enough back on her legs that her head nearly touched the ground, and she straightened up in a single fluid motion. Grimmjow jumped back; his face still set in a snarl.

"Now that was somethin'," he said. He placed a finger to his left nostril and blew snot out of the right. "Yer a bit of a bendy fucker. Can't say that isn't a bit of a turn on."

Yoruichi smiled. "You're slower than I thought," she told him, she sounded disappointed. "You're putting no thought into how you're going to attack. You'd have more success if you took a moment to think about what would be the best way to strike."

"I don't need your advice!" He growled. "And I am anything but slow!" He went for her again, charging forwards, a growl thundering from his throat. As before, Yoruichi moved out of the way. This time though, she spun round, her right leg rising and arching through the air, kicking Grimmjow squarely on his ass. He stumbled and nearly lost his balance. His hands thrown forward, stopping him from going face first into the dirt.

Someone laughed. It started out as a snicker, and then it escalated, and rippled through the watchful crowd. Soon they were all laughing under their breaths. Grimmjow looked back over his shoulder at Yoruichi as he realized what had happened. She was smirking at him. He looked around, shock evident on his features. It quickly gave way to fury as the laughter washed over him, he flushed angrily, and climbed to his feet. Dusting himself off, he turned to face Yoruichi.

"You can walk away, if you like," She told him, her tone even. "I think we both know that this little game is over."

"This isn't over until someone kisses the dirt!" He spat on the ground, and then crouched down, his eyes locked on Yoruichi.

"Silly boy," She wasn't smiling anymore. "But if that's the way it has to be. This time, I'm not playing around."

"Fine with me," He crouched lower, his shoulders rising, legs tensed; coiling up like a cat about to pounce. A grin crept up his face. He sprang forward, fist raised for a devastating blow. Just the same as his last attack; Yoruichi danced out of the way. Rather than stumbling past, Grimmjow flung himself to his right. He rolled on his shoulder and he came back to his feet, flashing back towards Yoruichi, his hand outstretched. Soi thought he was going to tackle her, or perhaps strike her in the gut. Clearly Yoruichi had thought so too. She moved her right leg behind her, her body already bending back to dodge his attack.

Grimmjow hooted in triumph, rolling again he landed on his feet. He spun on his heels, hand trailing the dirt for balance. He darted forward again. Reached out, his hand flat; and almost gently he pushed Yoruichi's right knee, before rolling past her and to his feet.

Yoruichi staggered slightly to the side, and then she regained her balance, and turned to face him. She stepped back onto her right leg, shock and pain flashed over her face, and her leg crumpled beneath her own weight; bringing the Goddess down to one knee.

Grimmjow threw his head back and laughed. "Just as I thought!" He grinned. "I figured that you're a lefty, you seemed to favor that side. Left handed; left footed - makes sense." He moved closer to her. "Then I got to thinkin' maybe it ain't just a case of being cack-handed. Maybe you favor your left leg, 'cause the right one is fucked!"

Yoruichi looked up to him. "So you are able to think."

"Yer should be beggin' me for mercy now," He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Gotta say though, you put up a better fight then those two fuckers!" He jerked his head towards Renji and Ichigo.

"Who says I'm done?" She placed her hand against the ground and pushed herself up, her right leg barely touching the ground. "I only need the one leg to beat you."

"Tch!" He pulled his hands from his pockets. "You want to continue?"

"Isn't over till someone kisses the dirt, right?"

She was planning on continuing. Soi pushed forward through the crowd. There was still time to stop this, to get Yoruichi out of there; the older woman was in no condition to continue this fight. Before she could make it out from the crowd someone grabbed her by her collar and dragged her back. She spun round, ready to unleash hell on whoever was fool enough to stop her. She stopped though when she saw who it was.

"Urahara-San?" She looked up at him; he looked unreasonably calm and still had a grip on her. "Let me go." She told him.

"Sorry," He smiled softly down at her. "No can do, Soi-Chan."

"What?" Anger surged through her and she pulled against his hold, trying to get free. "I have to go help Yoruichi!"

"There's nothing you can do," He said.

What was wrong with him? Why was he stopping her? Soi pulled even harder against his hold, she'd rip her top if she had to. He took hold of her arm with his free hand, his grip was firm and she could feel the strength in those deceptively skinny arms.

"Let me go! She's hurt!"

"I know," there was regret in his voice. "Please stop struggling, you'll only hurt yourself."

The crowd groaned and Soi heard the unmistakable sound of someone hitting the turf very hard. She tried to twist round, to see who it had been, but Urahara still had a hold of her and too many people were squashed around her. Panic was creeping into the edges of her consciousness now. She struggled against Urahara's grip, her feet digging into the earth and tearing up clods of grass and mud. Again; she heard the sound of someone going down. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she struggled to get free of Urahara's vice-like grip. And then she went cold. Someone was laughing; high and uncontrollably – Grimmjow.

"Let me go!" She yelled at Urahara.

"I can't…"

She doubled her efforts, desperation and fear driving her. "Let go!" She looked back over her shoulder at the fights. Through the crowd she saw flashes of the two fighters. Someone was down, but she couldn't see who. Blind panic was clouding her visions. Was it Yoruichi? She wrenched her arm from Urahara's grasp, and nearly broke free. And then his arm went around her neck; hauling her back. "No! Get off!" She screamed. "Yoruichi! _YORUICHI!"_

/\/\/\

Morning light spilled through a gap in the blinds and bathed Yoruichi's face. She groaned sleepily and draped her arm over hers eyes. Rolling onto her left side, she reached out blindly for Soi, but she couldn't seem to find her. "Wha'?" She opened her eyes and discovered she was alone in the make-shift bed. "… Soi?" Sitting up, she looked about the room and found that she was the only one still asleep; everyone else seemed to have gotten up already and left.

_They could have woken me…_

Slowly she disentangled herself from the quilt she was wrapped in and climbed to her feet, taking a moment to work the stiffness out of her right knee. Wincing, she tested it to see if her knee was going to take her weight; it didn't seem too bad. Slowly she hobbled forward; satisfied that it was going to take her weight and wasn't injured, merely stiff. Her throat and chest tickled, so she coughed, her hand going to her mouth. Unfortunately clearing her airways required slightly more effort than a simple cough, and she bent double hacking hard enough to make her eyes water.

"Well that's sexy."

Yoruichi turned her head mid-cough; Kaien was standing in the doorway, his arms folded over his bare chest. Yoruichi straightened up, frowning; Kaien was wearing what appeared to be a pair of Kuukaku's pajama bottoms.

"You're one to talk," She croaked, pointing at his choice in sleepwear. "What the hell're you wearing?"

"They're comfy," he said with a smile. The pajamas were far too tight for him and emphasized his package, which Yoruichi just didn't need first thing in the morning. "Cleared all the tar from your lungs?" He enquired.

"Probably not," She picked up her discarded jeans, carefully folded over the arm of Kuukaku's now destroyed sofa, and pulled them on. "I'm sure there's enough in there to repair a road."

"Lovely," Kaien said, he frowned in concern. "How are you feeling?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "Sore. It's to be expected though." She glanced at the pile of cushions, pillows and quilt that she and Soi had fashioned a bed from last night. She felt disappointed to have woken up alone; it had been nice going to sleep with Soi next to her, in her arms. She smiled faintly, she had missed having Soi so close, missed waking up with her there, and she'd just plain missed her these past two weeks. Sighing, she turned from the pile and shuffled towards Kaien.

"You're limping," He still had that look of concern on his face.

"No shit. Twisted my knee, remember?"

"I remember. You shouldn't have gotten involved."

She was quiet for a moment. Chances were that Kaien was right; he usually was with these things. "Someone had to do something."

"_You _didn't have to though," He sighed, and then placed his hand flat on the top of her head, reminding her just how great the height difference between them was. "You should have let me handle it."

"You were taking too long," She knocked his hand off of her head, and she tilted her own head back so she could look him in the eye. "That guy wasn't going to stop with just Renji and Ichigo, and you know it. If no one had gone forward to fight him, he would have just picked at random from the crowd and beaten the shit out of them."

He gave her an indulgent smile. "You were just worried he'd come across, Shaolin."

"She can handle herself," Yoruichi shrugged. "Actually, she probably would have fared better against him then I did. Less showboating, more cheap-shots."

Kaien laughed softly. "She'd sucker-punch the guy?"

"You kidding? She'd have waited until he was about to hit someone else and then taken him out while he was distracted. It probably would have been a one-hit K.O."

"It isn't nice to sucker-punch a guy, even if he is an asshole."

"I think her theory runs along the lines of; whatever gets the job done." Which made Yoruichi wonder why Soi hadn't gotten involved. There had been plenty of opportunities where Grimmjow had been too focused on her to realize if someone was coming up on him from behind. Not that Yoruichi would have been happy for Soi to have been involved in the fight, if anything were to happen to her… Still, it was very unlike her angry Bee.

Kaien nodded. "Remind me not to piss her off," the look of concern returned to his face. "In all seriousness though, don't go doing anything like that again. It isn't your responsibility."

"Then whose is it?" She snapped. "I did what I had to do. And besides; it all worked out, didn't it?" She didn't wait for an answer, making for the front door instead. She could feel the packet of cigarettes in her pocket pressing against her thigh, and she really needed one just now. Despite the chill air, it was a nice day; the sun was bright in the sky, no breeze, and the birds were chirping merrily. The front garden was a mess, empty bottles and cans littered the drive way, and part of the fence had been kicked down. Ganju was up too, his motorbike was parked on the driveway and he appeared to be working on it, she gave him a wave.

Yoruichi pulled her cigarettes out of her pocket and opened the packet, only one left; vaguely she remembered nearly chain-smoking the entire pack last night after all the fuss had died down. She pulled it out and brought it to her lips; she didn't have a clue where her lighter was though. "Fuck," She muttered. She could almost taste the much needed nicotine through the filter. Her fingers felt itchy.

"Need a light?" Ganju asked, he stood; wiped his hands on a rag, and then walked up to her pulling a lighter out of his pocket.

"You're a life saver, Ganju!" She leant forward as he struck the flint, the tip of the cigarette brushing into the flame and sparking up. She inhaled deeply and leant back from him, letting the warmth of the tobacco and nicotine wash over her. "Oh, that almost feels as good as sex!" She took another long drag.

"Urgh," Ganju had gone a little red about the ears, no doubt caused by her all too pleased moan. "I gotta get back to, Bonnie." He pointed to his bike, and then shuffled off.

"Where's Kuukaku?" Yoruichi asked.

"She went to get breakfast," Ganju answered. "Something about there being only instant coffee left."

Yoruichi nodded. "Soi?"

"Huh?"

"What about, Soi? Have you seen her?"

He shrugged. "Maybe she went with, sis."

Yoruichi doubted it, the pair of them trapped in a car together sounded highly unlikely, too high a chance of them killing each other. Yoruichi spent the next five minutes watching Ganju mess about with his bike, taking occasional drags from her ciggie and whistling along with the birds. The stiff pain in her knee seemed to be lessening, which was only a bonus; she really couldn't be bothered with being injured.

Eventually she heard the familiar roar of Kuukaku's pick-up. She dropped her cigarette to the ground, remembered not to stand on it since she was barefoot, and walked closer to the drive just as Kuukaku pulled up. She was fairly shocked when Soi hopped out of the passenger side.

"Oh! You're up," Soi said, her eyebrows raised in surprised. "I figured that you'd probably sleep through till the afternoon." She looked a little annoyed.

"Guess I was missing you," Yoruichi said with a smile. "Get anything nice for breakfast?"

"Not really," Soi answered. She leant back into the truck and reemerged with a tray stacked with Styrofoam cups. "Here, this one is yours." Soi handed Yoruichi one of the cups before heading inside with the rest.

"Thanks," Yoruichi murmured to the air.

/\/\/\

Breakfast had been a mostly silent affair. Kisuke and Kaien had pulled over what was left of a table and propped it up on a mixture of beer crates, books and an empty keg to give them somewhere to eat at. They were still huddled round it, sitting on the floor, legs tucked underneath them. No one seemed to know what to say. Kuukaku was sitting close to Kaien; Kisuke seemed to have been banished to the opposite end of the table, probably so that he didn't have to face the cold wrath of the eldest Shiba. Yoruichi found this odd; usually Kuukaku ignored her brother's misguided protectiveness and would go out of her way to be closer to Kisuke in front of him; just to annoy him. Yoruichi sat next to a silent Soi. She had discreetly shuffled closer to the sullen girl, letting her leg brush against Soi's, trying to gain her attention. Soi continued to ignore her. For some reason, that Yoruichi couldn't fathom, Soi was in a very bad mood with her.

"So, last night," Kaien said, wiping his hands on a serviette. "We calling it in?"

"You think it was an actual attack?" Kisuke asked. He wasn't wearing his hat, his blonde hair was ruffled and jutting out at all angles. Yoruichi always found it slightly unnerving when Kisuke didn't wear his hat.

"You don't?"

Kisuke's face was unreadable. "I suppose it doesn't matter either way. Either this was planned, in which case the Old Man needs to be informed. Or it was the actions of one man, in which case; the Old Man still needs to be informed."

"Why not just say; 'yes, it should be called in'?" Kaien asked, sounding annoyed. "It would have been a lot easier than trying to make me sound like an idiot."

Kisuke assumed a look of pure innocence. "I would never try to make you look stupid, Nii-San."

"Call me Nii-San one more time and I'll make you eat your hat!"

"How 'bout ya both shut up!" Kuukaku said angrily. "Better yet; go compare ya cocks and find out who has the biggest. Then yers can stop actin' like kids."

"Already done that," Kaien said. "It's not really a fair contest though."

"You can't really compare them when they're on the limp," Kisuke explained. "It's not the true length. To get a more accurate contest we'd both need -"

"I can't believe we're discussing cocks over breakfast!" Yoruichi cut in. "Really, there's no need for it. Kaien, you can explain everything that happened to Jushiro, he'll tell Yama, and then they can decide what the best course of action is. Kisuke?"

"Yes, Yoruichi-San," he smiled at her.

It often amazed her how Kisuke could switch from being serious to goofy so quickly. "Do you think that there was a chance that this was an intentional attack?"

The smile slipped from Kisuke's face, everyone else was silent and watching him. "It's always a possibility," he conceded. "I think it was probably just this Grimmjow throwing his weight around. It was too clumsy for it to have been Aizen's idea."

"You really think Aizen's involved?" Kaien asked.

"We saw Grimmjow at Hueco Mundo, he's definitely one of Aizen's," Kisuke answered. "And the fact that Tousen showed up to take him away, well that practically confirms it."

Kaien sighed. "Aizen would be stupid to take on the Old Man." He stood up and brushed himself off. "I'm going to go get changed. I'm in work later, so I'll tell Ukitake what happened here. I'll also send some sort of apology to the Kuchiki's, Byakuya's gonna be pissed when he hears that Rukia was caught up in all this." Kaien made his way out of the room, muttering something about Rukia as he went.

Underneath the table, Yoruichi slowly reached over to Soi and rested her hand on the smaller girl's knee. Soi hadn't said a word since they'd sat down; she looked tired; her face was devoid of emotion. Yoruichi moved her hand slowly up from Soi's knee to her thigh, hoping to gain a reaction from the younger girl. Soi knocked Yoruichi's hand from her leg; Yoruichi couldn't help but feel a little hurt by Soi's cold attitude.

She sighed and turned away. Kisuke looked troubled, he was staring forward; hardly blinking, Yoruichi could practically see the cogs turning in his head. Kuukaku looked even more tired than Soi, she was staring down at the table her expression blank.

Trying again, Yoruichi moved her hand under the table towards Soi, her fingertips trailing up Soi's leg. She felt Soi stiffen, but ignored her; finding Soi's own hand lying flat on her thigh. Yoruichi placed hers over it, disappointment washing over her when Soi moved her hand away. Yoruichi's whole body slumped; she tilted her head and watched Soi through her hair which had fallen over her face. Soi looked miserable; her whole body was curled in on itself, her eyes downcast and she seemed even paler than usual.

Was this because of last night? Admittedly Soi's attempt at talking hadn't really worked the way she had intended. Even before they had been interrupted by the fight, they hadn't really been doing much in the way of talking. Yoruichi wanted to smile at the memory, but found that she couldn't. She knew that they would have to talk eventually, but if she was really honest with herself; she knew that she didn't want to. It was childish, she knew it was childish, but a part of her wanted to pretend that everything was okay; that they could just carry on. Talking about it would mean that she would actually have to explain herself.

Yoruichi lifted her head and watched Soi; just seeing her like that made Yoruichi feel sad, and a little scared. Yoruichi hooked her fingers through the belt loop on Soi's jeans and gripped it tight, keeping her eyes on the petite girl.

The past two weeks had been … odd. Despite the lack of sex, Yoruichi had found that she had enjoyed spending so much time with Soi. They had spent every day together, they had talked more, and although their conversations had only been about trivial things; Yoruichi had liked it. She liked hearing about what Soi had done in her day; about college, work, who was pissing her off (an impressive list), and so many other minor things. Yoruichi had only just noticed that in all the time she had been with Soi, all the time she had known her; she had never actually sat down and just talked.

Soi looked down at Yoruichi's hand, and then she looked away. Yoruichi couldn't believe that she'd done something so bad that she deserved such cold treatment. She turned her head away as well and a small sigh escaped her lips. A moment later she smiled. Soi's hand brushed over her own, unwinding her fingers from the loop, and working her own fingers between Yoruichi's. Yoruichi squeezed Soi's hand and closed her eyes.

She didn't think she'd ever admit it to anyone, but Soi pulling away like that, had scared Yoruichi.

/\/\/\

The rest of the day had been spent tidying the house. Yoruichi had admittedly spent a lot of it sneaking off for cigarette breaks, but they had eventually returned the place to a near presentable state. Soi hadn't really spoken much throughout the day, but she had graced Yoruichi with the odd smile, and for now that was enough for the heiress. Since her knee was still bothering her, Yoruichi had gotten out of all of the heavy lifting. By exaggerating the extent of Soi's injured elbow, Yoruichi had even managed to get Soi out of most of the heavy lifting; although Yoruichi had a feeling that this was only because neither Kuukaku nor Kisuke could be bothered to argue against her.

Sitting outside, on what appeared to be Kuukaku's newly constructed bench (two crates and a broken door), Yoruichi lit up yet another cigarette. It had been chilly earlier in the day, now the temperature had lowered and it was borderline freezing. She placed the cigarette to her lips and sucked; feeling the warmth of the smoke and nicotine, exhaling with relish.

"You smoke too much."

Yoruichi lifted her head and looked to her right; Soi stood halfway out the door.

"It's been a long day," Yoruichi replied. "I think I earned this one." She shuffled across and patted the make-shift seat with her hand; inviting Soi to sit with her. To her surprise, Soi stepped out from the house, closing the door behind her, and then sat down next to Yoruichi. "Want me to put it out?" Yoruichi asked her.

"No, it's alright."

Yoruichi watched her; Soi still had that sad look to her. She had her hands clasped tightly together in her lap, her fingers continually fidgeting. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Right," Yoruichi turned away, bringing the cigarette to her lips for another drag. "You sure?"

"I'm fine," Soi answered. Sighing, she rubbed at her eyes. "Why'd you do it?"

"Umm," Yoruichi wasn't sure exactly what Soi was on about.

"Why'd you get involved in the fight?"

Yoruichi stared at her in surprise; her cigarette balanced on her bottom lip. "I had to."

"No you didn't."

Shrugging, Yoruichi spat her cigarette out to the ground where it smoldered, a thin trail of smoke rising. "Someone had to do something; it may as well have been me."

"So stupid," Soi hissed. Abruptly she stood up causing the make-shift bench to wobble and stamped on the cigarette, grinding her heel into it. "There were plenty of other people who could have fought him."

"And yet no one did," Yoruichi wasn't sure why Soi was getting so bent out of shape. Minor knee-injury aside, everything had turned out all right. Her head cocked to the side and she smiled at Soi. "What's the matter?" She asked her voice tinged with laughter. "Was my Little Bee worried about me?"

Soi stared, her face absolutely stricken. "Yes."

"Oh," Well that had sucked the fun right out of Yoruichi's teasing. She rubbed the back of her head somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry?"

"Why didn't you let Kaien or someone else handle it?"

"You make it sound like I couldn't handle it," Yoruichi was starting to feel a little offended that Soi seemed to think she was incapable of looking after herself.

"You were lucky Tousen showed up when he did!" Soi said, her voice rising.

Yoruichi bounced her left leg on the ground and stuffed her hands into her pockets; clenching them into fists. She really wished she hadn't spat her cigarette out. "Even if Tousen hadn't shown up when he did, I would have been fine. The guy didn't land a single punch."

"Good job too, it would only have taken the one punch."

Yoruichi gritted her teeth. She didn't understand why Soi couldn't just accept that it had all worked out and let it go. Why did she have to keep bringing it up? And why was she going out of her way to belittle Yoruichi like this? Yoruichi was starting to feel very angry. She didn't like feeling weak, and Soi was coming awfully close to insinuating that she was exactly that.

The temptation to shout back was there, but Yoruichi bit it back. She climbed to her feet, careful to avoid putting any weight on her right leg. "I'm going to call for my car," She said, forcing a neutral tone. "Do you want a lift home?"

Soi stared at her, and then her shoulders slumped slightly. "Yeah, sure."

/\/\/\

Yoruichi wasn't exactly sure why she put herself in these situations. She knew that travelling in her chauffer driven car with Soi was a sure fire way for a tense atmosphere and short conversation. Sure enough, Soi sat sullenly across from her; staring out of the window. Yoruichi sighed as they turned a tight corner and onto Soi's street. It all looked so gloomy on this street; dull grey buildings, mesh covered shop-windows, and dirty looking kids. She was starting to think it would have been a better idea to bring Soi back to her place.

They pulled up outside Soi's building. Yoruichi watched in silence as Soi unbuckled herself and opened the door, before stepping out. Not even a good-bye kiss? Clearly Yoruichi had pissed the girl off more than she had first thought. The door to the car was still open, Yoruichi frowned and was about to angrily yell at Soi to close the door, when Soi's head ducked down back into view. She looked slightly apprehensive; chewing on her lip, Yoruichi could see her twitching fingers.

"Umm, do you want to come up?" She asked.

This was a surprise. "Uh, y-yeah," Yoruichi undid her seatbelt and turned to her driver. "I'll call you if I need you, Komamura."

"Very well," he replied gruffly.

Yoruichi slid across the leather seats and out the open door, closing it behind her. Soi licked her lips and nodded; a slight smile on her face. Yoruichi followed her as she walked the few steps to the building. Soi opened the door and stepped in, Yoruichi close behind her. They didn't speak until they were halfway up the stairs, Soi being the one to break the silence.

"Is your knee bothering you?" She asked.

"Not really," Yoruichi replied. It was a lie, but she didn't want Soi feeling guilty; it wasn't her fault that the building didn't have an elevator.

Soi nodded. "I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have been getting at you, like that."

"Umm, don't worry about it." Yoruichi was feeling fairly confused. Soi was acting funny. She kept glancing back at Yoruichi, an odd expression on her face that Yoruichi couldn't decipher. By the time they finally reached the top; Yoruichi's knee was aching and Soi seemed to be a whole bundle of nerves. Yoruichi felt more than a little bit puzzled, Soi looked like she was shaking, the keys in her small hand jingling as she fitted them into the lock on the door. Yoruichi stuffed her own hands in to her coat pockets, and followed Soi through the now open door; the younger one still trembling with what Yoruichi could only assume was nervous energy.

Once inside, Yoruichi kicked the red door closed, and turned to face Soi; only to find herself being roughly shoved back against the door. "Wha -" She never finished her sentence. Soi's soft lips were pressed hard against her own, silencing all words, and the only sound that emitted from Yoruichi was a small moan. She felt rather helpless all of a sudden; with her hands still in her pockets and Soi pressed tightly against her. Wasting no time; Soi's hands went to the buttons on Yoruichi's coat, undoing them quickly and then pushing it from the taller woman's shoulders.

Yoruichi's brain was still moving too slowly to follow what was happening; so she let Soi remove her coat, and she let Soi continue to kiss her. Her lips moving from Yoruichi's mouth to trail down her jaw line to her neck. Yoruichi bit back another moan, and gasped instead, as she felt Soi's teeth gently nip at the soft skin along her collar bone. She could hear Soi's heavy breathing, like she'd just run a marathon, could feel it against her skin. She supposed she was breathing just as heavily. She felt somewhat detached from this, her mind taking a back seat to her senses, and unable to actually react in an appropriate manner.

_What's wrong with me? _This was the point where she should have just thrown Soi down and screwed her brains out. Why was she just standing there? _Move, do something. _She urged herself, but still didn't move. She should just take Soi, fuck her, and then fuck her again, like she usually did, because Soi was hers' to do with as she pleased.

Somewhere in the back of her mind; she wondered when she had first started to think of Soi as property.

All of a sudden she felt trapped; pressed in against the door, the room far too small. Her breathing quickened, Soi's fingers brushed up her arms to her shoulders, and Yoruichi was torn between melting into the girl or shoving her away. She was shaking; she realized, her limbs trembling; she swallowed. Soi's lips brushed oh-so gently against hers and then she stepped away. Yoruichi looked down, Soi's eyes were fixed on her own; silver meeting gold with a questioning gaze. Yoruichi wasn't sure what it was, perhaps the look in Soi's eyes; misty, a little scared, and filled with desire, but that overly analytical voice that was plaguing her mind was shoved aside. She pulled Soi tightly to her, kissing the girl roughly and forcing her tongue into her mouth. It was messy, her pace frantic, but she didn't care. Apparently Soi didn't either, she was pressing herself just as hard against the Goddess, her hands grasping Yoruichi's behind; pulling her tightly in. Yoruichi yanked at Soi's coat, she heard the buttons rip off; didn't care, and forced it off of Soi's shoulders.

One of them was making small desperate whines; she had no idea which, perhaps it was both of them. Her arms locked tightly around Soi's small waist; a hand sliding up her spine, making her shiver, and to Soi's small neck. She broke away from Soi's lips, her arms dropping from Soi's body. Taking hold of the bottom of the T-shirt Soi was wearing; Yoruichi pulled it up and over her head, before tossing it aside. She kissed her again, this time letting her hands roam up Soi's bareback, feeling the hard muscle beneath. She wanted this, she wanted her. The thought went round and round in her head, as she continued her assault on the smaller girl. Soi's hands gripped the waistband of her jeans, and she pulled Yoruichi with her as she walked backwards.

They broke apart as Soi's legs hit the couch. Yoruichi resisted the urge to simply shove Soi down, and waited instead, her blood thumping through her veins, for Soi to settle down herself, and then pull Yoruichi down and on top of her. The pace wasn't as frantic, but the kisses and touches were just as hard. Yoruichi's lips went to Soi's neck, her teeth roughly nipping the skin there; determined to leave a mark or two. She groaned as she felt Soi's fingers rake up her back pulling her top up, bunching it around her breasts.

Somewhere in her mind she recognized that this wasn't just a case of wanting; she needed this. She needed the closeness, the feel of someone else pressed against her.

Soi's hands were busy undoing the buttons on Yoruichi's jeans, her belt long since discarded. She pushed them down, her fingers hooking into Yoruichi's panties removing those too. Yoruichi's own hand went down to help in the task, and she kicked the garments down her legs, grunting when they became entangled around her ankles. Vaguely she remembered that she was still wearing her boots. She chose to ignore them and instead returned her lips to Soi's.

"…Yoruichi…" Soi whispered; her voice husky and distant. Yoruichi let her lips trail back down Soi's neck and to her chest. She heard Soi mutter something that she didn't understand, small slender fingers brushing through her hair, and finally a gasp as Yoruichi's mouth clamped down on Soi's nipple. Her tongue washed over it; the tip flicking against it, and she pulled at it with her lips, her teeth, until it was swollen and painful looking. Satisfied, she moved back up Soi's body, pressed her face into the crook of Soi's neck and inhaled deeply. She planted a kiss somewhere behind the girl's ear, and several across her jaw line, before taking in her face. Soi's small face was flushed, her eyes heavy lidded and lust filled; Yoruichi supposed she was equally as flushed. She kissed her again, softer than earlier, letting the weight of her body press down.

It was so easy. Yoruichi smirked to herself as she kissed Soi again, and again, her lips staining the girl with her desire. Soi kept breathing her name, repeating it, as Yoruichi continued to shower her with kisses, grazing her with her teeth; her hands skimming over her pale skin. She wanted Soi, she had always wanted her, and now she was only just coming to realize that perhaps it went beyond wanting, that perhaps she needed Soi.

The thought nearly made her stop what she was doing, nearly made her reconsider her actions. She forced herself on, her hands roaming up Soi's body, grinding herself into it; enjoying the very pleased sounds that Soi was making. And then it was ruined for her. She froze, as Soi's lips brushed up against her ear and whispered those little words that Yoruichi didn't want to hear right now. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she swallowed. She hadn't wanted to hear that, she didn't want the responsibility that came with those words; she didn't deserve to hear those words.

It was too late now, they were out in the open and the only thing Yoruichi could think to do, the only thing her hazy lustful mind could manage to do, was to shut Soi up in case she repeated those words. Yoruichi crushed her mouth to Soi's already bruised lips, took hold of Soi's hands and moved them above her head and out of her way. All vestiges of sanity left the Goddess when she heard Soi whimper, heard the small noise escape from the back of that slender throat. She bit down on the throat; hard, felt the flutter of Soi's pulse beneath her lips. She ignored it, ignored the cry of pain and the way Soi flinched against her. Yoruichi's hand went over Soi's mouth, forced her head back to fully expose her throat. She bit, licked and kissed her way across Soi's neck, to her collar bone; and then along her shoulder; marking her as she went. Her nails dragging slowly across Soi's ribs leaving stark white streaks in their wake, before roaming down to cup between her legs; pressing hard against her. Yoruichi moved her hand from Soi's mouth long enough to kiss her possessively, clamping her hand back over it when she was done. She planned on marking her whole body in this fashion. Soi was hers, and hers alone; and she would make damn sure that anyone who saw the girl would know it.

She kept her hand over Soi's mouth, made sure that Soi's hands were placed above her head and away from herself. Soi belonged to Yoruichi, but the Goddess didn't belong to anyone; and certainly not to the girl beneath her. The words were still ringing in her head, taunting her with their possessive sincerity. Yoruichi continued her assault on the girl; her lips caressing soft skin, her teeth marking it, and her hands clutching tightly, drawing Soi ever closer to her.

'_Do you want me to stop?'_

Yoruichi froze. Her heart was hammering somewhere up in her throat. She looked down at Soi, the girl clearly hadn't spoke, not with Yoruichi's hand clamped tightly over her mouth. Hesitantly, Yoruichi shifted her head back up so that she could face Soi. She took her hand from Soi's mouth, waited while the girl drew in several ragged breaths, and then bent her head towards her.

'_Are you sure?'_

A choked gasp escaped Yoruichi's lips, and she buried her face into the crook of Soi's neck. She remained still as she felt Soi's hands move to her shoulders, grip them tightly, and push her back. Push her away.

"…Yoruichi..?"

Teeth gritted, Yoruichi kissed Soi, pulled her in tight. She ignored the dull ache in her chest, and the way her mind seemed to be screaming at the edges of sanity. She could feel Soi struggling against her, pushing back against her hand. She could see the muscles in her back bunching tightly, shifting as she tried to escape from the grip that had her held down. And although she told herself not to do it, Yoruichi pushed the girl down; listened as she heard her clatter into the stool, her body thumping against the marble bar top. She held her down, crushing her in with her body.

Dragging breath through her clenched teeth, Yoruichi shook her head trying to clear it of the images playing through her mind. She could hear heavy breathing, whimpers, and her own shuddered gasps. And she could hear…

'…_Stop...'_

_Oh._

It was too much, far too much. All of a sudden she couldn't stand to be so close to Soi. Her eyes snapped open and forced herself back from the prone form beneath her, a ragged cry torn from her throat. She jolted to her feet and tried to step back, stumbled; her jeans tangled round her ankles. She bumped into something, her knee collapsed under her, and she fell ungracefully to the floor with a yelp.

"Yoruichi?" Soi sat up and looked down.

Yoruichi's lip trembled. She stared down at her feet; covered by her jeans, her bare legs exposed to the air, knees pointing up. She didn't know what to do. Her throat was burning, her eyes stinging, and she couldn't breathe.

She felt like crying.

It wasn't an option. She swallowed the raw lump in her throat, and blinked back any tears that might have threatened to fall. Wrestling her jeans back up her legs, she climbed to her feet; ignoring Soi's hurt and confused stare. Her top was bunched up past her breasts, and she pulled it down; only just realizing that at some point Soi had unfastened her bra.

"What's going on?" Soi asked her voice small.

Yoruichi didn't risk looking at her. "I have to go," she said, surprised at how calm her voice sounded. Her hands were shaking. "I just remembered that I have to do something."

"You have to go?" Soi repeated. "You have something to do?"

"Yeah."

"Now?"

"That's right," Yoruichi nodded. She licked her lips, still avoiding Soi's eye. She turned for the door, grabbing her discarded coat as she went.

"Yoruichi?" She sounded so hurt. "What are you doing? Why are you going?"

Yoruichi's hand was on the door, ready to turn the handle and to escape to freedom. She forced herself to turn, forced a smirk up her face. "Can't be helped," she said. "I'll call you later." She tried to make it sound as casual as possible.

Soi stared at her; shock now giving way to anger. "What is going on with you?" She demanded.

Yoruichi swallowed. "Nothing," She said. "I've just got stuff to do."

Soi looked away from her. "Fine," she spat out.

Yoruichi crumpled slightly. She turned away, opened the door and stepped out of the apartment. She heard the door click shut behind her and exhaled. Her hands were still shaking, her throat still raw, and there was a tightness in her chest that was crushing all the wind from her. She took a few quick deep breaths, shook her hands, trying to stop them from shaking. She closed her eyes, she could still feel Soi struggling against her, could hear her scared voice. And now she could see the hurt expression on her face as she sat alone watching Yoruichi leave.

"Fuck!" Yoruichi turned, grasped the handle of the door and strode back into the apartment. "See, the thing is; I can't have sex with you." Her voice sounded unsettlingly shrill. Yoruichi looked at Soi, still sitting on the couch; topless. "Urm," Yoruichi looked away, an uncharacteristic blush creeping up her cheeks. She swallowed and bent down to retrieve Soi's discarded top. "Here," she tossed it to Soi. It would be a lot easier to talk if she didn't find herself eyeballing the younger girl.

Silently, Soi pulled the top over her head. She looked up to Yoruichi, her eyes narrowed. "You were saying?" Her voice sounded cold.

"Umm," It had seemed so easy when she had first barged in. Yoruichi had been planning on saying everything on one big rush; now that she had been interrupted she wasn't sure how to continue. She took a few steadying breaths before finally asking; "Why aren't you angry with me?"

Soi stared at her. "What?" Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why aren't you angry with me?" She repeated. "I don't understand why you're not angry with me, for what I did to you."

Soi's head tilted to the side and she gave a small shrug. "I'm just not."

"But you should be!" Yoruichi couldn't understand why Soi seemed to be so determined to play this off as such a trivial thing. "Fucking hell, Soi! What I did was practically rape!"

Soi looked a little shocked at this, and she shook her head. "No, it wasn't," She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "It wasn't rape. It was, well I'm not sure what it was; but I wouldn't call it rape."

"You told me to stop."

"What?"

"You told me to stop, and I didn't," Yoruichi could feel that lump back in her throat. "I should have stopped what I was doing. I shouldn't have done it in the first place, but, god you make me so fucking angry, and it was the only thing I could think to do." Now it was all coming out in a rush. Her voice was cracking, her teeth chattering and her guts seemed to be clenched in knots. "I've never met anyone who makes me this angry. And I don't know how to handle it, I don't get angry. I've never been an angry person." She stopped. Soi's head was hanging low, her face obscured by her hair. Slowly, Yoruichi forced herself to calm down. It wouldn't do either of them any good for her to get worked up. "I just," she exhaled; pinched the bridge of her nose as she did so, and then dropped her hand, tapping it against her leg. "I just want to know why you're not angry with me."

Soi's hands grasped at the fabric of her jeans, she shuffled backwards on the couch; her head still bowed. Slowly, she lifted her head to look at Yoruichi. "I'm sorry," She said. "I'm sorry that I make you angry, but you don't make me angry. You frustrate me sometimes, but you never make me angry. Not really. "

Yoruichi's head fell forward and her shoulders slumped. She wanted to cry again. Why was Soi apologizing to her? She turned away and kicked the door. She felt slightly better for it, so she did it again; harder this time. And then she kicked it a third time for good measure. The wood had caved in leaving a dent where the toe of her boot had struck it.

Yoruichi turned back to face Soi. "I shouldn't have done what I did," her voice sounded calmer now. "And what makes it worse is that I was going to do it again."

Soi looked up at her.

"Last night, when we were in the bathroom; you wanted to talk, and I didn't – I really didn't want to explain myself. That's why I kissed you. All I could think to do, because I wanted you to shut up, was to force myself on you." She chewed on her lip. "And again tonight, I was going to do it again. I came so close to doing it. All I ever seem to do, all I'm really capable of doing, is hurting you."

Soi looked away from her, and Yoruichi just knew that they were over. She wouldn't blame Soi for it, the blame rested with her. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, her body shaking. That ache was back; tight in her chest. She licked at her lips again; her teeth were clamped tightly together to stop them from chattering. It would be a lot easier if she just walked away. She found that her legs weren't working though, and she remained rooted to the spot.

"Yoruichi," Soi murmured. Her hand lifted and she beckoned Yoruichi over to her. "Come here."

Slowly, Yoruichi forced her legs to work. Soi was still looking away from her, and Yoruichi was partially thankful for it. She looked down, Soi patted the couch next to her, and Yoruichi sat down. She waited; Soi was still facing away from her. Finally, after what felt like an age; Soi turned to face Yoruichi, her expression neutral.

"Yoruichi," Soi said, her voice was quiet and she looked a little sad. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and cuffed Yoruichi smartly across the head. "How dare you!"

"What?" Yoruichi's hands went to her head. This wasn't what she had been expecting at all.

"Do you really think so little of me? Do you really think I'm that fragile?" She seethed. "Do you really think that I'm so stupid that I'd _let _you break me, again?"

"Umm," Yoruichi was feeling confused by all the questions being thrown her way.

"I'm not angry with you because there's nothing to be angry about," she continued. "You fucked up, but let's face it, you do that a lot. I'm used to it."

"Okay," Yoruichi rubbed at her head where Soi had hit her. "But I – "

"Shut up!" Soi ordered her. "I'm not finished!" She hit Yoruichi again; smacking her on the arm.

"Ow!" Yoruichi rubbed her arm where she'd been struck. She realized though, that it could have been a lot worse, it was almost playful in comparison to how hard she knew Soi could actually hit her.

"Second point: how little do you think of me, that you think I would stay with you if I thought that you had raped me?" Her voice rose in anger. "Do you think I'm so pathetic that I would just accept it? If, at any point, I considered what happened as rape, I'm pretty sure I would have left you."

"Yeah, but – "

"So you do think I'm that pathetic?"

"No," Yoruichi's voice was getting smaller with each stuttered reply.

"Perhaps you think I just sit around all day waiting for you. Is your arrogance such that you think that you're so fucking fantastic that I'll accept any form of contact from you? That I'm so weak, that even assault is better than nothing." Soi looked away from her. "Did it not occur to you that I might actually have been enjoying myself?" The anger in her tone was marred by the slight blush staining her cheeks.

Yoruichi felt even more confused. "But you told me to stop," She protested.

"You asked me if I wanted you to stop, at the time I did. I also, afterwards; kissed you."

"Yeah but –"

"Yoruichi," Soi sighed. "Stop punishing yourself. This whole self-loathing thing you've got going on, it really doesn't suit you. I'd rather see you smile." She turned back to face Yoruichi. "Which brings me to my third point."

Yoruichi flinched back half-expecting to be hit again. She waited, her eyes screwed shut, but nothing happened. Slowly she opened her eyes; Soi was looking at her hands, her eyes downcast.

"The next time something's bothering you, just tell me about it," She looked back to Yoruichi. "You had me really worried. Stop bottling everything up, you don't need to keep it all to yourself. Even if it's something that seems really stupid, tell me about it." She looked lost now, and afraid; her voice breaking.

"Soi…" Yoruichi reached out to her, taking her hand in her own.

Soi turned to face her, her head falling to Yoruichi's shoulder. "You're so stupid."

A soft smile curled up Yoruichi's face, and she chuckled. "It's the effect you have on me."

Soi snorted. "What a shining compliment; I make you angry and I make you stupid."

Still smiling, Yoruichi tilted her head and placed a gently kiss on the side of Soi's head. She felt lighter somehow, like a massive weight had been lifted. Her fingers brushed back and forth over Soi's hand. "You make me other things as well."

"Yeah?" Soi lifted her head. "Insane?"

"Sometimes," Yoruichi admitted. "Mostly though, you make me happy." Soi looked surprised, her mouth hung open, and her eyes were wide. Yoruichi kissed her on the corner of her mouth. "Thank you."

Soi smiled against her.

Yoruichi shuffled closer, her arms slipping around Soi's thin waist, and she buried her face into the crook of Soi's neck. Just where she liked to be.

* * *

**Gah! Yoruichi's so freakin' difficult to write! Especially when I need her to express some form of emotion, I think that she seemed a little bit schizophrenic in this chapter. Hopefully the more I write chapters from her perspective, the easier she'll become to write. **

**On another note, this chapter is over 9000 words long. It's also four in the morning here in England; if I stay up for another hour then I'll have been awake for twenty-four hours. Scary. I should go to bed. Due to lack of sleep, there may be typos and other errors; I'll correct them forthwith – once I've slept.**

**Reviews don't make me go BOOM, but I do squeal with girlish delight. **

**Edit: Yeah, so I went through and spruced up some bits. Nothing major though, mainly grammar and sentence structure. **


	13. Golden

Golden

"What a miserable day," Lisa murmured.

It was raining, a perpetual drizzle that seemed to soak through everything. It was exactly the kind of rain that Lisa hated; it was deceptive in its lightness and thorough in its saturating capabilities. It was as though there were a curtain of water hanging in the air and drenching anyone who walked through it. She'd much rather it was chucking it down, at least then she'd be able to enjoy the comforting pitter-patter of rain drops on her car. Sighing, she turned the corner that led into an empty car-park. She was mildly surprised that there weren't any other cars there, but then she supposed that most people were at home; what with it being Christmas day. Personally, she'd never much seen the point in celebrating Christmas. The holiday held no religious significance for her, and she found the commercial side of it to be superficial.

She pulled into the space nearest the entrance to their building, it was technically for disabled drivers, but she doubted that anyone would complain. She gathered up her things; purse, errant papers, file and her phone which had slipped from its usual resting spot on the passenger seat to the floor. With any luck someone would open the door quickly so that she wouldn't have to be out in the rain too long. She briefly toyed with the idea of phoning and announcing her arrival, but knew that would only encourage her associates to leave her outside. She checked a final time to make sure she had everything, and then opened the car door, stepping out into the rain. She ran the short distance to the door, her heels clicking on the concrete as she went. She thumped her fist against the heavy door. The buzzer had been broken since they'd first moved into the building, fixing it was on the to-do list, but like most things was yet to be taken care of. She tapped her foot impatiently. A large and very cold drop of rain dripped down the back of her neck and went down her back.

"Urgh!" She grimaced and tried to step closer into the doorway. She banged her fist against the door again. "Shinji!" She yelled. "Open the door!" She continued hammering her fist until she heard the lock click, and the door slowly opened. "About time."

"Sorry," Rose's calming voice answered. "We were watching TV." He stepped aside and let Lisa in.

She flicked the water from her file at him and he raised his hands to shield himself. She eyed him. He was, as always, dressed smartly if somewhat flamboyantly; his white shirt had a ludicrously large collar that was neatly folded over the lapels of his smart jacket. "We need to get the buzzer fixed, or at least sort out keys for everyone," She told him.

They walked down the long unlit corridor, there was absolutely no source of light, Lisa was so used to it now though that she strode forward confidently, and didn't even stumble when they came to the staircase. She could feel Rose walking close behind her; his hands were brushing against the walls on either side of him. At the bottom of the stairs she could make out the dull light of the main room, it flickered now and then, she guessed that they must have still been watching television.

The underground room was large, sparsely furnished and had a low ceiling. Two old sofas with mismatched cushions were placed in the centre of the room facing each other, a low table between them. An old and depressingly small television was sat on a stool at one end; Hiyori was perched on the arm of one of the sofas watching it, her back to Lisa. Kensei was slouched back on one sofa; his feet resting on the table, Mashiro was sitting next to him, and she was flicking through a magazine her eyes wide with interest. Love was lying back on the other sofa, his hands resting behind his head; he may have been sleeping but Lisa couldn't see since he was wearing his sunglasses.

"Where's Hachi?" She asked. Usually the big man would be fussing around them all, indulging them with his kindness. She also couldn't see Shinji, which made her feel nervous.

"He's out," Hiyori answered without looking from the telly screen. "Went to pick up food."

Lisa went to dump her stuff on the table but then stopped when she saw it was already full. "What the hell is all this?" She demanded, picking up one of the offending items and brandishing it.

"Christmas cards," Love said, he sat up and turned to face her. "Apparently we're popular this year."

"Pointless," She dropped the card back to the table and dropped her file down. "Who are they from?"

"Why do you care if they're pointless?" Love asked.

"I don't! I'm just curious."

"There aren't any for you," Mashiro said. "There's some for me, a couple for Hiyori-Chan, loads for Kensei-stupid, some for Rose, lots for Love and even a couple for Hachi."

Lisa frowned. "What about, Shinji?"

"None!" A completely crushed voice wailed from one end of the room. "None for me!"

Lisa sighed. "Are you in one of your moods?" She looked over to the darkness where Shinji's voice had come from. If she squinted she could just make out his outline crouched down against the make-shift wall of his office. It looked as though he was hugging his knees to himself. "Not getting a Christmas card isn't something to get so upset about," She told him. "I didn't get any either."

"Yes, but you're a bitch," he replied.

Lisa gritted her teeth. "And you're obnoxious!" She angrily rearranged her glasses. "Now, if we're all done acting like children, can we please get down to business?"

With a loud and overly dramatic sigh, Shinji climbed to his feet and shuffled over to the rest of the group; his hands in his trouser pockets. "Fine," he kicked an empty bottle away. "Hiyori, turn the TV off."

"No, I'm watching this."

"Turn it off."

"I said no!" She yelled over her shoulder.

"What is your problem?" Shinji snatched the remote from her hands and turned the TV off. "We have work to do."

Hiyori made a grab for the remote. "Give it back, Shinji!" She yelled, punching him in the side. "I want to see what happens."

Lisa sighed and rested two fingers against her temple. They were always like this; the simplest of things took an age to do because these two felt the need to fight about everything. Hiyori was still trying to wrestle the remote from Shinji, cursing at him all the while; Shinji was laughing at her and only making her even angrier. Finally having had enough, Lisa strode over to the television and kicked it from the stool and to the floor, the sound of it smashing against the concrete caused Hiyori and Shinji to break apart.

"Well that was an overreaction," Shinji commented.

"What the hell did ya do that for?" Hiyori demanded. "That was my TV!"

"We have work to do!" Lisa barked, an angry flush creeping up her face. "And we're in trouble."

"We're always in trouble," Shinji moaned. He sat down next to Love, his elbows resting on his knees. "What did we do this time?"

"It's more what we didn't do," Lisa answered.

Shinji raised his eyebrows. "Well then; what didn't we do?"

"Our jobs."

This statement was met with silence and blank looks. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. "Kensei, what happened at the party?"

"Huh?" He said. "Well, it was a party. So drinking, dancing, probably some drug-taking, and other stuff. Nothing all that interesting."

"Really? Because I was under the impression that there was a fight."

His jaw clenched. "Yes, but it wasn't anything that bad."

"Really?" She repeated. "So you consider Yoruichi-San being injured, not 'that bad'? How interesting."

"Busted!" Mashiro sang, still reading her magazine.

Kensei clenched his jaw and shot Mashiro an angry glare. "It was crowded," He explained. "It's unfeasible to expect me to keep an eye on her for every second. I lost sight of her for a moment."

"And what were you doing in that moment?"

Kensei opened his mouth to answer, but unfortunately for him, Mashiro beat him to it. "He was getting a blow-job," She piped up happily.

"Why you!" a vain seemed to be popping on his forehead.

Shinji laughed. "Was it a good blow-job?"

"Yep!" Mashiro sounded all together too pleased with herself.

Shinji only laughed the harder for it. "As long as it was a good one. It would have _sucked _if it had been a bad one." He chuckled at his own wit, but stopped when he realised no one else was joining in. "Jeez, you guys are uptight."

"Our client isn't happy," Lisa informed them all. That was clearly a sobering thought. They all looked slightly troubled by this information. Even Hiyori took a moment from mourning her television to look up at them. "I was called this morning. If we screw up again, then our services will no longer be required."

Shinji brought his thumb to his lips and chewed on his nail. "Would that really be a bad thing?"

"We're making a lot of money out of this," Love put in. "If we lost this one, we'd be considerably poorer for it."

"But the whole job has been nothing but a hassle from the moment we took it," Kensei said. "And we do have other clients to think of."

"True," Shinji climbed to his feet. "This job might actually be more hassle than it's worth."

"We're in too deep now," Lisa pointed out. "We know too much, and have crossed too many people. It'll be safer to ride the job out then to quit suddenly."

"Guess you're right," Shinji shrugged and climbed to his feet. "And we do owe _him _a favour, or two. We're still in then, but if it gets to be any more complicated then we'll have to discuss the terms of our agreement with the client."

"Fine," Lisa nodded. "I'll forward our deepest apologies to the client, and promise to do better from now on. Who's watching her for her birthday? I can cover the beginning of the night, but once she leaves the First bar someone else will need to take over."

"I've got it," Love raised his hand. "Me and Rose will cover bars Two through till Nine."

"And I've got the rest," Shinji answered. "Kensei, you and Mashiro should be at the Eleventh. If anything is going to happen, it'll happen there."

"Are we expecting something to happen?" Rose asked.

"No," Shinji answered. "But it doesn't hurt to be cautious. Yadomaru, need a word." He beckoned her over to him. Lisa followed him as they walked away from the rest of the group to Shinji's office. Shinji closed the door behind them, through the large window Lisa could still see the others sitting on the sofas, apparently deep in conversation, while Hiyori was angrily kicking at the remains if her television set.

The small office was built from cheap wood, and had a tendency to wobble when the door was closed too hard. Filing cabinets lined the stone wall at the back; a small desk was set in front of them. Shinji walked round the desk, moved his saxophone case gently out of the way, and opened a draw. Retrieving a thin file from the drawer he dropped it on the desk.

"Take a look," he said pointing at it.

Frowning, Lisa opened the file. Shinji didn't seem happy, he was on edge, and when something troubled him Lisa knew that it had to be something big. Inside the file were some photographs and a few sheets of paper, probably faxes from one of their clients. She picked up one of the photographs and her eyes widened in shock. "But this is - "

"Exactly," he answered. "I was sent a whole file on this."

Lisa stared at him. "Who sent it?"

"Don't know. There was no name attached."

She flicked through the other photos, and then briefly scanned the papers. "We're not the only ones watching Yoruichi."

"Nope,' he took the file from her and looked over the pictures. "It isn't surprising. She's always been a popular lady."

"Any idea who this one works for?"

He shook his head. "Not a clue."

That was a problem. They had no idea if this rival company's interests coincided with their own, or if extra protection would be needed. "At least we know that they're there," Lisa pointed out. "And so far, their interests seem to be along the same lines as ours."

"Guess so. It is sorta worrying though, that they've managed to keep themselves hidden from us for so long."

"And that they've ingrained themselves more thoroughly into her life then we have."

Shinji smiled. "This has become a whole lot more interesting, don't you think? So many different sides to choose from; so much to make, and so much to lose." He sat down in his chair and placed his feet up on the desk; he grinned at Lisa. "And all of it resting on one woman, who doesn't even have a clue just how important she is."

Lisa felt cold dread wash over her. Shinji had that mischievous look in his eyes that just screamed trouble.

/\/\/\

Yoruichi had just recently come to the conclusion that Christmas television was crap no matter where you were in the world. She had spent last Christmas in Italy, the television had been crap there, and now this year; depressingly stuck in Tokyo, she found that it was also crap. At least the company was better though. She smiled at this thought, and wrapped her arms tighter around the small body that was snuggled against her.

"She asleep?" Kisuke asked. He was lounging back on the couch opposite her, his hat tipped back, and the TV remote in hand.

"Yeah," Yoruichi replied softly. Soi's face was pressed into Yoruichi's neck, the Goddess's chin resting on top of Soi's head. "We had a late night."

"Oh my," Kisuke said with a suggestive smile.

"Not like that. She's behind on college work, and was up for most the night trying to catch up."

"You'll forgive me I hope, if in my mind, you two had a late night for different reasons."

"Pervert."

"Takes one to know one," He smiled. Kisuke was banned from the Shiba family Christmas, and had opted to spend it with Yoruichi and Soi rather than on his own. Yoruichi wasn't sure if it had been Kaien's ruling that Kisuke not be allowed over for Christmas, or if it had been a parental decision, either way; Kisuke was not welcome in the Shiba family home. These days Yoruichi was only barely tolerated by Kuukaku's parents, ever since she'd made a joke about Kuukaku being her girlfriend in front of them she had fallen from their graces. They had been very happy and relieved when Kuukaku had dragged Kisuke home for the first time. The relief was short lived though; they had found Kisuke's eccentricities to be anything but endearing.

"Least she doesn't snore," Kisuke commented, looking over to Yoruichi. "Unlike someone I know."

"I do not snore," Yoruichi answered.

"Yeah, you do."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and then laughed softly. "She talks in her sleep sometimes though."

"Yeah? Does she say anything interesting?"

"No idea," Yoruichi admitted. "I don't understand a word of Chinese."

"She could be announcing her undying love for you," He suggested. He was smiling, but Yoruichi couldn't help but notice that there was a tightness about his mouth and a tenseness to him. "You never considered learning Chinese?" he asked.

"What would be the point? She speaks Japanese."

"Wouldn't it just be a nice thing to do?" He flicked through the channels at high speed. "Some would say it's unfair that she's forced to speak a different language."

"She isn't forced to do anything," Yoruichi was starting to feel annoyed. "It's not as though she learnt Japanese just so she could speak to me. She already spoke it when we met."

He shrugged. "It was just a thought."

"A stupid thought," She mumbled. Of course now the thought was stuck in her mind, and she was starting to question it. Silently she cursed Kisuke for putting such stupid thoughts in her head. Soi had never said that she resented having to speak Japanese. Yoruichi turned her head slightly and looked down at the sleeping girl; she looked unusually peaceful, which brought a smile to Yoruichi's lips.

"Would you like a drink?" Kisuke asked. He tossed the remote down onto the coffee table and climbed to his feet.

"Go for it," Yoruichi replied. She carefully unwound her left arm from around Soi trying not to disturb her; knowing from experience that she was a light sleeper. Yoruichi moved her arm form under the blanket and then carefully moved the blanket back into position, smiling when Soi tensed at the feel of cooler air and pressed her face closer to Yoruichi.

"Here," Kisuke handed her a glass; half-filled with milk. "Wow, she's actually not scowling," he sounded amused. "And here was me thinking that it was a permanent look. She looks nice and relaxed, not that I can blame her; I know from personal experience just how comfy you are to lie on."

Yoruichi wasn't sure how to take that one. She had always been aware that Kisuke had lingering feelings for her, but until recently she had been content to assume that they were simply the echoes of adolescence romance. Now though, after Kuukaku bluntly telling Yoruichi the truth of Kisuke's feelings, Yoruichi was forced to face the reality that her long serving best-friend was rather hopelessly in love with her. She wasn't going to ever bring the subject up with Kisuke though, she figured that this was his and Kuukaku's business and any input from her would be unnecessary interference. If Kuukaku could live with it, then who was Yoruichi to question her? Yoruichi certainly didn't want to be the one who caused a rift between the three of them. She just wished she couldn't hear the underlying bitterness in Kisuke's words now when he spoke to her.

She forced a smile for him and took the glass gratefully. "Thanks. You look kind of tired yourself, working late?"

He nodded. "That's the curse of working two jobs."

She scoffed at that. "You only have one job, and an all consuming hobby."

"So which is the job and which is the hobby?" He sat back down on the free couch, swinging his legs up and assuming a relaxed pose. "I get paid for both of them."

"The research post is your job, sure you enjoy it, but they pay you by the hour so it's a job," she explained. "The stuff you do for the Old Man is a hobby, you haven't been on the Gotei 13's payroll since you worked for me."

"I make some money from it."

"Hooray for embezzlement!" She grinned at him. "Fiddling with the books, tipping them off, and selling information to rivals; it's a game for you."

"You make me sound like such a scoundrel."

"Aren't you? You're loyalty to the Old Man is pocket deep. If a better offer came along then you'd be off like a shot."

Kisuke didn't reply; he tapped his fingers against this chin thoughtfully.

Yoruichi smirked to herself. "You're lucky though. I'll always be linked to the Gotei 13; my family's ties to them are too strong. I'm doomed to forever pour my money into their coffers for their 'protection' and 'guidance'."

"You could always break ties with them once you inherited the company."

"And who would stop the illegal parts of the Shihouin enterprise from being discovered?" She asked. "I don't like the amount of control the Old Man has, but it would be commercial suicide to sever ties with him. Besides, they keep some of the seedier stories about me out of the papers."

"It is a business arrangement though," He pointed out. "You could sever ties with them at any point. It'd cost you a huge amount of money, but I'm pretty sure you could afford it. You're not one of the lifers. Some of the bar managers will never be able to break away from the Old Man, they'll have to serve him till they die."

"You're depressing me, Kisuke," Yoruichi gulped down the rest of her milk and placed the glass on the ground. She felt Soi stir against her, mumble something under her breath, and then turn; her hand rubbing at her eyes. "Morning," Yoruichi said happily. "Sleep well?"

"Yes," Soi replied, she shifted back around to face Yoruichi and she kissed the older woman. "Very well."

"Glad to hear it," Yoruichi wrapped her arms around Soi and pulled her down for another, deeper kiss. She smiled inwardly as she felt Soi's hands move up her sides pushing up underneath her top as they went. Her rough fingertips brushed against the sides of Yoruichi's breasts, her thumb skimming over a nipple and -

"Don't mind me," Kisuke butted in with his usual jovial tone.

Soi froze against Yoruichi; she'd clearly forgotten that Kisuke was here. She grunted before moving back from Yoruichi a faint blush staining her cheeks. Yoruichi was torn between being amused by this, and annoyed at her friend for interrupting what was clearly going to end up in sex.

"No really," Kisuke continued. "Don't mind me, please continue." Yoruichi could see his grin from beneath the shadow of his ridiculous hat.

"Idiot," Soi muttered. She slipped out from beneath the blanket and to her feet, where she stretched; her spine cracking.

Yoruichi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the lost contact. She wrapped the blanket around herself, but it didn't make up for the lack of Soi. She had been really comfortable with Soi draped over her, not to mention warm. It felt cold beneath the blanket without her. Yoruichi pouted and brought the blanket up to her chin.

Yoruichi groaned when she heard the phone ring. "Kisuke, the phones ringing," She said before burying her head beneath the blanket.

"Yes, it is," he answered.

"Well answer it," She told him.

He laughed. "You answer it, it's your phone."

"No, it's probably my father."

"Well, I don't want to speak to your dad," he said. "Last time I spoke to him, he shouted at me."

The phone was still ringing. "It might be Kuukaku," Yoruichi reasoned, pulling the blanket from her head. "She'll want to talk to you."

"Not falling for it," Kisuke smiled. "We both know that it'll be your dear old daddy on the other end."

"He likes you. If I talk to him all he'll do is-"

"Hello?"

Yoruichi froze. The phone wasn't ringing anymore; she sat up and turned, gripping the back of the couch tightly in her hands. Just as she had feared, Soi was standing near the kitchen holding the phone to her ear.

"Hang up!" Yoruichi hissed at her.

"Shihouin-Dono," Soi smirked at Yoruichi who began waving her arms at Soi, trying to signal that she wasn't in. "I'm afraid Yoruichi-Sama's not in right now, you just missed her. Would you like me to take a message?"

Some of the tension left Yoruichi's body. With any luck Soi would hang up soon, Yoruichi really didn't want her father speaking to Soi; it would only cause problems for them both. Soi seemed to be nodding along with whatever Yoruichi's father was saying, clearly an extended message; which surprised Yoruichi. His Christmas greeting was usually short and straight to the point. He wasn't a man to waste words, especially on his wayward daughter.

Soi went quiet for a moment and then her eyes widened in surprise. "Yes, I'm from Nanjing. How did you know that? ... Seriously? Just from my accent?"

Yoruichi stared at her girlfriend. What the hell was she doing? Her father was never one to chat, and neither was Soi when Yoruichi thought about it. So why were they chatting?

"Thank you," Soi continued. "I've only been learning since I was seventeen. One of the receptionists at my Father's office was half-Japanese and she taught me the basics. I was a little surprised how quickly I picked it up."

"Hang up the phone, Soi," Yoruichi hissed at her.

Soi ignored her and sat down on one of the bar stools. "No. Urahara-San's here too. Yeah, he's wearing the hat. Really?"

Yoruichi turned to Kisuke. "What the hell is she doing?" She demanded.

"Looks like she's having a conversation with your dad," He removed his hat and scratched at his head, a shocked expression on his face. "Guess no-one told her that the man is pure evil."

"I'm pretty sure I did!" Yoruichi strode over to Soi and held out her hand. "Give me the phone," She mouthed.

Soi frowned at her and shook her head. "That doesn't surprise me," she continued, a slight smile on her face. Yoruichi made a grab for the phone; but Soi turned her back and used her free arm to keep Yoruichi at bay. "I did look into studying in America; and Europe too, but my father was unwilling to let me travel so far away." Yoruichi had clambered practically up onto Soi's back in her efforts to reach the phone. Soi hooked her free arm underneath Yoruichi's leg and bent forward, sending the Goddess over her back and to the floor. She straightened up. "Tokyo suits me fine, I like the city, the people and the course I'm studying is interesting, even if it isn't what I wanted to do."

Yoruichi climbed to her feet and strode to the front door. She opened it and slammed it shut, and then turned to Soi with a triumphant look in her eyes. Soi rolled her eyes. "Yoruichi-Sama is back now; would you like to speak to her?" She said. "Thank you, it was nice talking to you too, Shihouin-Dono." She held the phone out towards Yoruichi.

Snatching the receiver from Soi's outstretched hand, Yoruichi smirked in victory. Of course now she would actually have to speak to her father, but if it meant that Soi was no longer speaking to him then it would be worth it. She took a moment to mentally prepare herself, and then lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?" She said in a bright voice.

"You sound perky," the soft drawl of her father's voice answered.

"Well it is Christmas," She replied, her voice still tinged with unnatural happiness.

"Indeed," he paused. "The girl who answered the phone –"

"Soi," Yoruichi cut in. She really didn't want to be drawn into a conversation with him about Soi so felt that it would be easier if she pre-empted most of his questions. She wasn't fooled by his earlier attempts with Soi at appearing human.

"Strange name."

"It's a nickname, her real name is-"

"Fon Shaolin," he replied. "Her family, although not as wealthy as they used to be, are quite prominent. They lost a lot of their money after the death of Mao, and it's only recently that they've managed to re-accumulate some of their lost wealth. Officially they're industrialists, unofficially..." he trailed off.

"Is there a point to your lecture?"

"I'm just making small talk. Don't you find it interesting?" He sounded bored. "She seems like a nice girl though."

Yoruichi gritted her teeth. Now he just sounded amused, as though this was all a huge joke. He obviously had a point to make about Soi, and about her family, with his cryptic clues and jibes; Yoruichi only found it infuriating.

"Is she a _good_ friend of yours?" He asked.

Something about the way he emphasised the word 'good' made Yoruichi go cold all over, and she gripped the phone tightly in her hand. She swallowed before answering. "Yes."

"I see," the amused tone was back in his voice, mocking her. "Well, that's nice."

"Look, are you going to wish me a merry Christmas or not?" She asked.

"Straight to the point. Very well; merry Christmas," he said. "I hope you've had an enjoyable day. Since I won't see you on your birthday; I hope you have a pleasant evening. Try not to embarrass yourself though; it's very disconcerting for me to read about your drunken exploits."

"I'll try," She replied tersely. "Merry Christmas to you too."

He chuckled lightly. "And a happy new year."

Yoruichi hung up on him. She stared at the phone in her hand. Her fingers were gripping it tightly, the skin on her knuckles stretched. He had actually been a lot more pleasant than she'd thought he was going to be, which only made her angrier. Usually they fought whenever they spoke, today his barbs hasn't gone past a mocking tone and she had somehow managed to not rise to his bait. Really, it had been one of their more pleasant conversations.

She placed the phone down onto the kitchen counter and let out a long sigh. Turning she found both Soi and Kisuke watching her. Kisuke was sitting on the arm rest of the sofa, his hat was tilted back on his head, and his bottom lip was jutted out. It would have been comical if it wasn't so damned disturbing. Soi was leaning against the other sofa, her arms crossed loosely and her head cocked to the side. There was a concerned yet questioning look on her face.

Yoruichi crossed the room over to her. She stopped and placed her hand on Soi's arm. "Don't ever talk to my father again," She said. She had meant for it to sound light, friendly even, but it had come out as an order; delivered in a harsh tone.

Soi's eyebrows knitted together into her all too familiar scowl, and she tensed up. "Fine," She replied, her voice cold. She turned from Yoruichi and flumped down on the furthest end of the couch, her legs drawn up beneath her, and her back to Yoruichi.

The Goddess cringed. That hadn't come out at all how she had meant it. She turned to look at Kisuke who was grinning like a fool and giving her a silent round of applause. The only answer Yoruichi had for him was to raise her middle finger, which caused him to collapse into peals of silent laughter. Turning away from her unsympathetic best-friend; Yoruichi couldn't help but wonder why she always seemed to be the one who fucked up.

She sat down on the couch and poked Soi in the back with her foot. "Hey," She said and poked her again. "You can't be angry with me on Christmas." Soi ignored her, so Yoruichi poked her with her foot again. "I'm just going to keep poking you until you talk to me."

Soi sighed. "So childish."

"Says miss huffy-pants!" Yoruichi laughed. She began to repeatedly prod Soi with her foot. "I'm just gonna keep doing this until you give in." She could see the smile curling up the side of Soi's face, and she knew that she was in the clear.

Soi grabbed hold of her leg and pulled it into her lap, clamping it down with both her arms. "It's mine now," she said with a victorious smirk.

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow and lifted her free leg fully intending to poke Soi with it as well. Apparently though, Soi had been expecting this. She grabbed the offending appendage and pulled hard enough so that Yoruichi's whole body slid down the couch and she was left lying flat on her back. Soi had both of the older woman's legs captured and held close to her body; she turned her head to face Yoruichi, that smirk still plastered up her face. Yoruichi couldn't help but smile back, she found herself becoming a bit lost in the moment.

"Okay then!"

Yoruichi turned, the sound of Kisuke's voice breaking the comfortable silence.

"I'm gonna head off," he said, offering them a half-hearted apologetic smile. "You girls clearly want to be alone."

"I'm sorry, Kisuke," Yoruichi twisted round so that she could see him over the arm of the sofa. "We didn't mean to make you feel awkward or anything."

"No, no," he held his hands up to show he wasn't offended. "It's alright, really. I've got a call to make anyways."

"Kuukaku?"

He paused for a moment; his eyebrows rose. "Yeah," he said finally. "Kuukaku. I'll see you both later."

Yoruichi heard the door to the apartment open and then close. "Whoops," She muttered turning back to face Soi. "Really didn't mean to do that."

"I did," Soi's smirk grew even wider.

"You're so mean," Yoruichi told her. Although, the Goddess couldn't help but feel a little grateful for Kisuke's departure; without him here she'd be able to enjoy Soi's company to the full.

/\/\/\

Soi closed the bedroom door quietly behind her, more form habit then anything; she was fairly sure she could have slammed it and Yoruichi still wouldn't have woken up. Dull morning light illuminated the apartment, and she shuffled over to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. It wasn't actually that early, not for her at least. Yoruichi wouldn't emerge for hours yet; which made it the perfect time to get on with her college work without any distractions.

Once tanked up on caffeine, she and her third cup, moved to the table where her pile of unfinished work awaited her. Pen at the ready, she was just about to get stuck in when a faint buzzing distracted her. She looked up and was mildly surprised to see her cell phone vibrating its way across the table, the screen lighting up. With a frown she picked it up, the cracked screen preventing her from seeing who was calling. It might be her parents; she checked her watch, but it seemed too early for them to be calling. She didn't know anyone else who would call her in the morning though.

"_Wei?_" She answered.

"Do you always speak Chinese when you answer your calls?" A soft and familiar voice asked.

"Not usually," She admitted, feeling momentarily confused by who was phoning her. "How did you get my number?"

"It wasn't difficult, not for me at least."

That was a slightly worrying if not completely unsurprising thought. Soi looked back towards the bedroom door, her frown deepening. "I don't mean to be rude, but what do you want?"

He sighed. "Are you always so blunt?"

"Yes."

He laughed this time. "Oh, very good," he took a moment before he continued, Soi wasn't sure if he was laughing still or not. "To the point then, Shaolin; you don't mind if I call you Shaolin, do you? I could call you Soi if you prefer."

Was he mocking her? "Shaolin is fine."

"Good. Well then, Shaolin; I have a proposition for you."

* * *

**Finally got round to fixing a blatant error, only took me like ten months. Compliments to uninstall for pointing out my mistake.**

**Also, it's weird writing about Christmas in the middle of summer, it makes me feel disorientated.**

**Anyhoo - Thank you so much for all the reviews so far, they make my day XD**


	14. Smile

**Smut on the starboard bow! Firing flange-cannons!**

**

* * *

**

Smile

The thick quilt felt soft against Yoruichi's bare skin. She stretched underneath its warm embrace, sinking further into the mattress that was truthfully too malleable to provide any support to her back. She preferred that though, she didn't see the point in sleeping on hard surfaces; she'd much rather curl up in warmth and comfort. She lay on her right side, her head resting on a large and overstuffed pillow, and her eyes were half-closed. She lifted a hand from underneath the covers and laid it flat on the vacant pillow on the other side of the bed. Closing her eyes, she smiled at the heavy feeling of drifting between sleep and consciousness.

Yoruichi wasn't sure if dozing could be counted as a hobby, but if it could; then it would be at the top of her list. Smirking, she amended that; second to top. Teasing Soi would always be her favourite. And then there was making her smile once she had finished with her teasing. There was a certain skill to making the young Chinese girl smile, and Yoruichi had gotten the knack of it quite some time ago. The real problem was not truthfully in making her smile, it was coaxing out one of her real smiles. All too often Soi smirked, sneered and scowled, her smiles rarely reached her eyes and when they did what burned there was usually anger or something equally as dark and resentful. Yoruichi had discovered that one of the best ways to make Soi smile was to catch her off guard with a compliment; Soi would then blush and stammer, before eventually gifting Yoruichi with a small smile accompanied by downcast eyes.

There were other ways to make Soi smile; like teasing her into such a state of annoyance that she looked to be about a step away from physical violence, and then diffusing her anger with a quick word. It was a similar tactic to catching her off guard with compliments, only diffusing her anger usually rewarded Yoruichi with a sheepish or apologetic smile. Recently Yoruichi had discovered that after sex she could coax the best smile from Soi. It was so simple that she didn't know why it hadn't occurred to her earlier. All she had to do was hold Soi close to her, to look her in the eyes and remain still. They would lie like that for minutes, perhaps for hours, Yoruichi wasn't sure; time for her went by unnoticed in those moments. It was in those moments though, that Soi would smile in such a way that Yoruichi felt an odd lightness to her being. The smile was so disarming, so open and trusting, and so filled with love.

It didn't occur to Yoruichi that she might have been smiling right back at Soi in the exact same way.

She was more than happy to admit though that it felt good to fall asleep with Soi next to her, and that she had missed it during the brief weeks they had been 'apart'. She'd noticed that their sleeping pattern had changed. It used to be that Yoruichi would fall asleep first, and Soi would lie awake for hours before eventually dropping off into a light sleep. Yoruichi knew that Soi had a tendency to wake up several times in the night; the slightest odd movement or noise disturbing her rest. Recently though, Yoruichi had found that she would lie awake and wait for Soi to fall asleep before she herself would even consider closing her eyes. It was strange, she had always been the type to fall into a deep slumber the second her head hit the pillow, and usually she couldn't keep her eyes open. Now though, she didn't think she'd be able to actually go to sleep unless she knew Soi was safe beside her and already asleep. This had meant that she had sometimes been pretending to sleep lest she be drawn into a post sex conversation. Yoruichi wasn't a sentimentalist, and she didn't adhere to those romantic clichés that demanded that she lie awake for hours afterwards discussing her feelings. She couldn't think of a more inappropriate time to discuss her feelings. She'd much rather take the time to sit and think through what she was saying, and not be tricked by passion into letting her guard down. After sex, after having Soi that close to her, everything would be too raw, too close to the surface, and then she risked letting something slip.

She pulled the covers over her head, blanketing herself in the comforting darkness. It was warm beneath the covers, and she could smell the lingering scent of Soi. She shuffled over to the other side of the bed, to Soi's side, and smiled sinking down into it. The smell of Soi was stronger on this side, as was the faint hint of sweat and musk; a reminder of the previous nights activities. She didn't want to admit the comfort that the imprint of Soi on her bed sheets brought her. When sharing a bed, Yoruichi knew she had a tendency to be selfish. It wasn't so much that she hogged the covers, as that she made a commendable attempt to claim the whole bed. When she and Soi had first gotten together, the younger girl had been too shy to point out to Yoruichi that she was left with very little bed space, and had silently just taken what was left to her. When they had got back together, after their break-up, Soi hadn't hesitated in ordering Yoruichi to; "move the fuck over!" and had even at times resorted to shoving the Goddess over to her own side.

Things were changing. She no longer coveted the bed, but shared it equally. When she woke up in the morning she wasn't spread eagle across the bed and claiming as much space as she could with her body, but curled to one side with Soi, their limbs entangled. They had woken each morning in different positions. Sometimes Soi was draped over Yoruichi; her head lying comfortably on the Goddess's shoulder, others Yoruichi had woken spooned around Soi; holding her small body possessively to her own. This morning, they had been facing each other, Soi's head slightly dipped and Yoruichi's lips lightly brushing against her forehead, Soi's hand resting comfortably on Yoruichi's hip. Yoruichi had had to suppress a groan of disappointment when Soi had carefully disentangled their limbs and slipped from the embrace, leaving Yoruichi with only a brief kiss.

She supposed that all these changes, though admittedly small, were a natural progression in their relationship. It still scared her though; something that she normally wouldn't even have admitted to herself. It was the fact that all these changes had started happening without her notice, that by the time she had realised what was happening it was too late to run or even question.

When had she first begun to need Soi? It was only a recent admission to herself, and it still felt strange and unfamiliar; she had never needed anyone before. And rather than leaving her feeling helpless like she had always assumed it would, she felt strangely content. Perhaps it was because she knew that she could place her trust in Soi and that the girl would never misuse it.

Yoruichi wriggled out from beneath the covers and pressed her face into Soi's pillow. Idly, she wondered if it was weird and clingy for her to be hugging Soi's pillow like this. It probably didn't matter; she wasn't planning on sharing the information with anyone. She heard the door to the apartment open and then close, muffled through the bedroom door. Soi was obviously home, which brought a smile to Yoruichi's face. She waited, listening; she could just about hear Soi moving around the kitchen. Yoruichi toyed with the idea of getting up, but decided against it. Just like the previous mornings where Soi had woken and gotten up from the bed early, Yoruichi knew that she would return; slipping back beneath the covers and snuggling up to the Shihouin heiress. Yoruichi could be patient when she wanted to be, and sure enough, the bedroom door opened; and she heard Soi quietly close it behind herself.

Yoruichi waited and listened, keeping her eyes closed and feigning sleep. She heard Soi's feet pad quietly across the room and to the side of the bed, where she heard the unmistakable 'thunk' of a mug being placed on the bedside table, followed by the smell of coffee in the air. She smiled, and rolled over towards the very welcoming smell. Cracking open an eye, Yoruichi could see Soi standing near the bedside table, her face flushed and eyes bright.

"You brought me coffee," Yoruichi mumbled sleepily.

Soi turned to her, a slight look of surprise etched on her face. "You're awake," the surprised look softened into a smile. "I didn't expect you to be up for a while yet. It's still pretty early."

Yoruichi eyed what Soi was wearing; canvas pants, t-shirt and elbow support; from her attire she could guess where Soi had gone off to so early. "Enjoy your run?" She asked. She absolutely hated Soi's idiotic and frankly dangerous hobby and wasn't above bickering about it, even if it would be a waste of a perfectly relaxing morning.

Soi smirked at her. "Yes," She sat down on the side of the bed, her back to Yoruichi, and pulled her phone from her pocket. She placed it carefully next to the steaming mug and then set about removing her elbow-support. "They're building a hotel a ways from here, and there's a huge crane. I'm waiting for it to turn, so that it'll connect two buildings, I'll be able to run along it to get from one building to the other."

"Urgh! Do you have to?"

"No, but I want to," she was still smirking. "Don't worry, I won't tell you when I do it, so you won't even know about it."

"Wonderful," Yoruichi shuffled closer to her. "It'll be great when the police call and I have to identify your body."

"From the height of it, if I fall; they'll have to indentify me through dental records."

Yoruichi groaned and pulled the covers over her head. "You're not making me feel better about this." Her mind theatre was busy playing her the image of Soi falling _Loony Tunes_ style from the top a building.

"It's easy," Soi scoffed. "Practically a straight run. There's going to be a jump at the end of the crane, but since it's higher than the building it'll be simple. I worked out the distance and heights in my head today. I'll just need to run off the end and I'll make the jump with plenty of building left to spare."

"I don't like it," Yoruichi sighed, and wondered if Soi was intentionally trying to make her worry. She poked her head out from under the covers, and reached a hand out towards Soi, her fingers hooking into the waistband of Soi's pants; tugging on them. "There has to be other ways for you to get your kicks."

She paused for a moment, as though she was considering Yoruichi's words, then she shook her head. "No. My mind is made up. Once that crane turns, I'm going for that jump."

"Urgh!" Yoruichi's hand dropped from Soi and she rolled away from her, pulling the covers up to her chin.

Behind her, she heard Soi laugh. "What's the matter?" Yoruichi felt the mattress of the bed shift as Soi moved up it, followed by the comforting closeness of Soi's body as the smaller girl leaned over her. "Are you worried about me, Yoruichi-_Sama_?" She asked her voice low and teasing.

"No," Yoruichi answered, a slightly petulant tone to her voice.

Soi chuckled, and Yoruichi felt her lean in closer, her lips dangerously close to the dark skinned woman's ear. "Liar," she whispered, her breath was warm and Yoruichi had to suppress a shiver at the feel of it against her ear. She couldn't stop the surprised gasp escaping her lips when she felt Soi's tongue flicker against the shell of her ear, or the very pleased sigh when Soi kissed the soft skin behind it; and then kissed the hinge of her jaw. Yoruichi turned so that she was on her back, smiling when she felt Soi pushing the bed covers away, exposing the Goddess to the room, slipping her leg over Yoruichi so that she was straddling her. Yoruichi pushed herself up to meet Soi halfway, their lips melding together for a heated kiss. Yoruichi slid her hands up Soi's thighs, and to the girl's slim hips gripping them tightly; resenting the fabric of Soi's pants for keeping their skin from touching. She let her hands move from Soi's hips to her lower back, sliding them up underneath her t-shirt; where she could feel the cold, slightly clammy, texture of dried sweat.

Smiling, Yoruichi broke the kiss her lips descending down to Soi's pale neck, her tongue flicking against it occasionally; the still cooling sweat that laced Soi's skin tasted salty and something else that was delicious and unique to Soi. Laughing softly, Yoruichi nipped at Soi's neck with her teeth. "You're all sweaty," she said, her voice muffled against Soi's skin.

"Hmm," Soi pressed herself closer into Yoruichi, her lips finding their way back to Yoruichi's ear. "Seems unfair that I'm the only one who's sweaty." Again with her tongue against Yoruichi's ear, this time trailing up from the soft lobe to the slightly pointed peak.

Yoruichi let out a shuddered gasp, and didn't put up any form of struggle when Soi took hold of her hands and brought them from around her own back, her fingers lacing between Yoruichi's, and held them up. That cocky smirk was still plastered up Soi's face, accompanied by an unusually confident gleam in her silver eyes. Yoruichi raised a questioning eyebrow, and was about to ask her what she was smirking about, when Soi rocked her hips into Yoruichi; grinding them together and sending a jolt through Yoruichi. Her head snapped back and she grunted in a manner that was anything but feminine. Gritting her teeth together, she tried to get a hold on her overheated senses.

It was unusual for Soi to be the one who made the first move, and rarer still for her to be the one in control, and the few times that she was always left Yoruichi feeling ridiculously over excited. Yoruichi pushed back into Soi; determined to get a foothold on this and not to be left as a quivering pile of goo.

"What's wrong?" Soi breathed into her ear, her voice needy and desperate. "Isn't this what you want, Yoruichi-_Sama_?" It was odd enough that Soi was suddenly adding the honorific to Yoruichi's name, something she hadn't done in nearly a year, but the way she was saying it; low and breathy, and possibly mocking, was undeniably arousing.

Soi was pushing into Yoruichi, forcing her back down to the mattress, and Yoruichi had to drop her hands from Soi's, placing them on the bed to stop herself from ending up flat on her back. She was still trying to retain some semblance of control, when Soi kissed Yoruichi, and pushed her body close into the older woman's, brushing up against her. The fabric of Soi's shirt was soft, but may as well have been made from sandpaper for the feel of it against Yoruichi's nipples. Yoruichi moaned, and Soi pushed her all the way down until she was flat on her back.

Breathing heavily Yoruichi watched Soi. Rather than taking advantage of Yoruichi, Soi was sitting back, her face flushed, and her eyes trailing over the Goddess body, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Against her better judgement, Yoruichi was starting to feel slightly exposed. "What?" she asked.

"Just admiring the view," Soi replied. She leant forward, supporting her weight on one arm, her free hand going to Yoruichi's face; fingers brushing over her lips before she replaced them with her mouth. "It's..." Soi's lips had trailed away from Yoruichi's. "...a very..." she kissed her way along Yoruichi's jaw. "...nice..." her lips roamed over Yoruichi's face. "...View." she finished; her lips returning to Yoruichi's for a quick kiss. She smiled softly. "You're beautiful."

It wasn't as though it was an unusual compliment. Yoruichi was fairly sure it was one that she heard at least once a day from various different people. But there was something about the way Soi said it, with absolute sincerity that left Yoruichi unable to summon her usual cocky reply to such remarks. Instead she found herself with a very pleased blush staining her cheeks.

Still smiling, Soi's fingers trailed down Yoruichi's cheek, and her silver irises met Yoruichi's golden ones. "But then, you knew that already, didn't you?"

That took the shine off of the compliment somewhat, even if it was true.

Yoruichi's eyes narrowed. "Always nice to hear it though," she said, unable to keep the annoyed and ever so slightly hurt tone from her voice.

Soi brushed Yoruichi's hair back from her face, her fingers trailing down Yoruichi's cheek. She kissed her forehead. "You're beautiful," she murmured against Yoruichi's soft skin.

Yoruichi arched an eyebrow. "You can't just throw compliments out there and exp-"

"You're beautiful," it was whispered teasingly into her ear. Soi kissed her way along Yoruichi's jaw, pausing briefly to plant one on her lips. "You're beautiful, you're beautiful, you're beautiful." Her lips trailed down Yoruichi's throat her tongue flickering against the hollow at the base.

Yoruichi swallowed and squirmed beneath Soi, refusing to make all those little gasps and sighs that were threatening to spill from her lips. She was still trying to keep up an annoyed air at Soi's earlier tarnishing of a perfectly good compliment, even if the girl was making it extremely difficult to do so. Shihouin Yoruichi had more will power then to give in to such light kisses, to the teasing feel of Soi's tongue against her skin, or her small hands raking up her ribs. She was more than capable of ignoring such ministrations.

"...Oh! Ah!" it was the feel of Soi's teeth grazing her already painfully erect nipple more than anything that made Yoruichi gasp and her eyes snap open. When had she closed her eyes? She now noticed that she had one hand on Soi's head, fingers threaded through her dark locks, her other hand was gripping Soi's shoulder tightly. How long had she been panting? The feel of Soi's hand on her other breast banished all questions from the goddess's mind. Especially when Soi was massaging it with just the right degree of pressure, her thumb skimming over the nipple and circling the areola. Yoruichi moaned; she couldn't help it, not when Soi's calloused fingertips scratched lightly at the sensitive skin; over and under her breasts, followed by soft lips pressed gently and then the warm slashing of her tongue, tingling against the slightly raw skin. Yoruichi was panting now, her body arching up towards the attentive girl above her. Those rough fingertips danced down Yoruichi's sides, seeming to count her ribs as they went, and then slid to a stop just above her hips.

"... don't... stop..." Yoruichi managed to pant out, feeling a slight stab of panic when Soi paused somewhere above her stomach. She looked down the length of her body just in time to catch Soi's eye, to see the gleam in those stormy eyes. The Goddess gasped when Soi slid her hand flat up her stomach to her sternum, the taut muscles beneath quivering at her touch. Soi's head dipped and her tongue flicked against Yoruichi's belly button, and then she moved down, going lower and lower.

Yoruichi's fingertips massaged gently against Soi's scalp, her hair soft and twined through Yoruichi's long slender fingers. She pressed her head back into her pillow, biting her lip; she could feel Soi's warm breath against her. She raised her hips slightly, pushing herself closer to Soi, silently pleading for her to hurry up. A shuddered gasp escaped Yoruichi as she felt Soi's cool lips against her heated core. She writhed at the contact, her toes curling and bunching up the bed sheets, even as she gripped the sheet with her free hand.

She cried out when she felt Soi's swirling tongue inside her, and damn neared screamed when the girl gently bit down on her swollen clit. Vaguely, Yoruichi was aware that she was gripping Soi's hair tightly, that she occasionally pulled it whenever her body jerked involuntarily. She forced her hand to relax, but still kept it clasped firmly to Soi's head; pushing her closer. She could feel the beginnings of her orgasm now; the heat spreading up her abdomen, the tenseness in her thighs. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she cried out loudly and she forced Soi closer, rocked her hips up, grinding herself against her, as her climax rolled over her.

"...fuck..." Yoruichi gasped, all the tension leaving her as she came back down to earth. A smile spread up her face as she tried to catch her breath. "That was..." she couldn't find the right words to accurately describe exactly what she was feeling right now, what she had been feeling only moments earlier, and settled instead on a pleased throaty laugh. She frowned at the lack of response from her lover. "Soi?" Yoruichi pushed herself up into a sitting position.

Soi was kneeling down near Yoruichi's legs, her hand up near her mouth. She turned to look at the Goddess; her face already tinged pink turned scarlet, and looked away. Yoruichi raised an amused eyebrow. She would never understand how Soi could switch from being so teasing, from being so sexual, to being so damned shy. Yoruichi shifted over to Soi, her hand going to cup her cheek. There was an odd almost scared look in Soi's eyes that confused Yoruichi. "Hey," she murmured kissing her softly. She shuffled closer, her hand trailing down Soi's body causing the small girl to shiver. Yoruichi took hold of her t-shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing the garment away. It didn't take her long to remove the rest of Soi's clothing and to toss them away as well.

Kissing her again, Yoruichi hooked her arm underneath Soi's and pulled the girl down with her. They lay on their sides, Yoruichi's arm round Soi's back, holding the girl close. She shifted her leg over Soi's hip, pressing herself against the comforting warmth of Soi's body. They kissed, lips brushing delicately, their eyes open and watching the other. Yoruichi's fingers curled, stroking Soi's back, feeling the notches of her spine. She smiled when she saw the corners of Soi's mouth slowly rise, her eyes softening and that open, trusting expression on her face.

Yoruichi closed her eyes, enjoying the silence between them, disturbed only by the sounds of their light breathing. She still ached pleasantly between her legs, and was eager for round two, eager to repay Soi in kind. For now though, she was content to hold Soi close to her, to enjoy the feel of her skin against her own.

When she held Soi this close, she could feel her heart beating.

* * *

**Not to ruin the moment or anything but, "flange-cannons"? Sometimes I weird myself out...**

**Thank you for all the reviews so far – you're all awesome! Don't be afraid to point out any of my mistakes, or worry that I'll take offense, trust me, I won't. **

**Leave a review on your way out, and thank you for reading! Oh, and feel free to shout at me for the lack of plot development in this chapter, I probably deserve it :P**


	15. Colder

Colder

"_Good. Well then, Shaolin; I have a proposition for you."_

Soi stared at her bare feet. She was sitting on Yoruichi's sofa hugging her legs with her chin resting on her knees. It had only been a few days since she had spoken to Yoruichi's father on the phone, and the conversation was now branded into her memory. She still remembered the amused tone to his soft voice that startled her in its similarity to Yoruichi's. The difference though, was that Yoruichi's voice carried a teasing edge to it while the Shihouin patriarch's was mocking. Soi had felt as though he was laughing at her throughout the entire conversation. And now she felt an utter fool for even speaking to him in the first place. Yoruichi had been right to warn her not to, the knowledge of which only made Soi feel even stupider for not immediately hanging up on him.

She hadn't even listened to what his proposition was. She was sure though that she could make an educated guess that it had something to do with Yoruichi. Had he sounded disappointed when she had refused to listen to him? At the time she had thought so, but now that she ran the conversation through her head she wasn't so sure.

"_I really don't think I have anything else to say to you."_

"_So quick to say no," he laughed softly. "You haven't even heard what I have to say. Surely there is no harm in simply listening?"_

She had still refused to listen and threatened to hang up on him. He had left her with a phone number and the promise that he would speak to her again very soon. She hadn't written the phone number down, hoping that she could forget the entire conversation, but the number seemed to be etched into her memory and she could still here the Shihouin patriarch's voice softly reciting the number. She sighed, and –

"Oi!"

Soi's arms flailed as a hand roughly shoved her into the back of the couch.

"Quit ignoring me!" Kuukaku bellowed into Soi's ear while shaking the smaller girl roughly by her shoulder.

Soi knocked her hand away. "Don't shout when you're right next to me!" She retorted.

"I wouldn't have t'shout if yer would answer me first time round," Kuukaku stepped back and folded her arms. "I've been shoutin' at ya for twenty fuckin' minutes!"

Soi scowled at her, rubbing her arm where Kuukaku had shoved her with surprising force, the muscle was feeling slightly tender. Kuukaku was sneering at her, her top lip curled back and her eyes blazing. Soi turned her head slowly away from Kuukaku, assuming an expression of indifference.

"Well, perhaps if you didn't slur your words..."

"Why you!" Kuukaku's teeth ground together. "I do not slur my words!"

"It's because you're an alcoholic," Soi continued, her voice was laced with false sympathy. "I know you can't help it. Alcoholisms' a disease. I understand."

Kuukaku's lips were drawn back in a rigid smile and her eye was twitching. "I am NOT an alcoholic, ya godammed chi- argh!" Kuukaku stumbled back as a crumpled up cigarette packet hit her square in the forehead. "What the hell was that for?"

Yoruichi strolled over a lit cigarette balanced between her lips. She leaned on her elbows against the couch, took the cigarette from her lips between her index and middle finger and blew out a long stream of smoke; a self-satisfied smirk on her face. She pointed at Kuukaku with the fingers that pinched the cigarette. "Don't be racist."

"I wasn't gonna be racist, ya car-"

"Don't be homophobic either," Yoruichi warned. Still smiling, she brought the cigarette to her lips.

"Gotta ruin all my fun, haven't ya?" Kuukaku tossed her head back, trademark sneer back in place. She looked down to Soi. "All I wanted to know was if ya had yer change of clothes sorted out for tonight?"

"Huh?" Soi felt confused. Why would she need a change of clothes for tonight? It was New Years Eve and they were going to the First bar to celebrate Urahara and Yoruichi's birthdays. Soi had figured that since they were having a meal at the First bar that she would have to dress appropriately (though she hadn't actually made any effort so far to pick anything out) but she really didn't understand why she would need a change of clothes.

"Weren't ya listening to me?" Kuukaku demanded.

Soi Shrugged. "Guess I spaced out."

"You've been doing that a lot recently," Yoruichi said sounding concerned. She leaned over the back of the couch and reached her hand towards Soi. She brushed the hair back from her face, and kept her palm pressed gently against Soi's forehead. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Soi answered. "I just have a lot of college work to get through."

Yoruichi frowned, concern still shining in her eyes. "You'd tell me if there was anything wrong, right?"

"Of course," Soi said.

_Liar, _she mentally berated herself. No, she was worse than a liar, she was also a hypocrite. She'd been doing nothing lately but trying to impress upon Yoruichi the importance of communication, of being honest. And here she was hiding things from her girlfriend. What made it really stupid was that she didn't even know why she was keeping it from Yoruichi, especially since she knew that Yoruichi would want to know that her father had been contacting Soi.

She should just tell her, explain it all, the truth. _Yoruichi, you're father called and spoke to me. I didn't listen to what he had to say, but I thought that you should know. _Simple. Easy. Then why wasn't she speaking up? Why was she doggedly keeping this pointless secret? It was as though she was keeping a secret just for the sake of having one.

Yoruichi's fingers brushed through Soi's hair and to the back of her head, where they rubbed gentle circles into her scalp. Soi had to resist the urge to close her eyes and lean into the touch - like hell she was going to let Kuukaku see her acting like that.

"Well okay," Yoruichi leaned forward and pressed her lips against Soi's forehead. "I know college is important to you, but don't go overworking yourself."

"I won't," That was probably another lie. She was still behind on her college work, and she knew that she would have to pull several all nighters to get it all finished. Soi cleared her throat. "So, what's this about a change of clothes?"

"Glad you asked," Yoruichi said with a grin. She kissed Soi quickly on the lips, and then vaulted herself over the back of the couch, landing on her hunches. Soi was mildly amazed that the Goddess had managed it without dropping her cigarette or distilling the lit end. Yoruichi brought the cigarette back to her lips. "We have to dress formally for the meal," she explained, her voice muffled by the butt of her cigarette. "But once we're done with the meal we're just going to go get really, really drunk."

"Well that shouldn't take you very long," Soi said.

"Shut it," Yoruichi replied with a smile. "So we're going to leave some clothes to change into at the Second bar so that we don't have to wear our formal stuff all night. You don't have to though if you don't want to. I just figured that you wouldn't want to spend the entire night in a dress."

_Dress? _Soi thought with a growing sense of dread. No one had told her that she had to wear a dress. She hadn't worn a dress since she was a little girl, and even then that had been reluctantly. "I don't own a dress," She pointed out. _Thankfully._

"All been taken care of," Yoruichi replied with a casual wave of her hand. She stubbed out her cigarette in the already full ashtray situated on the coffee table. "Kuukaku's not leaving a change of clothes there though. She's sticking with the one outfit for the whole night."

Soi looked up to Kuukaku. "You're going to be wearing a dress?"

"String bikini," Kuukaku said with an indifferent shrug. "And Kisuke's wearing a thong and nipple tassels."

Now that was a horrifying mental image. "Funny," Soi muttered before turning back to Yoruichi. "I don't want to wear a dress."

"If I have to wear a dress, then you have to wear one too," she replied.

"You wear dresses all the time."

"I look good in dresses," She said with a smirk.

_Modesty thy name is Shihouin Yoruichi._

"Yeah well, I don't," Soi informed her somewhat sullenly. Yoruichi looked good in pretty much anything and everything. She was one of life's effortlessly beautiful people, what with her flawless dark skin, large golden eyes and her feline grace - she really was a goddess in the flesh. Soi was fairly sure that Yoruichi could have gone out tonight wearing a sack and would still have looked stunning in it, and within a week all the young women of Tokyo would have been wearing sacks as well. If it had been anyone other than Yoruichi, then Soi would have been disgusted that life had negated to deal Yoruichi any physical flaws.

The good humour seemed to leave Yoruichi's eyes. "I wouldn't know, I've never seen you in a dress," She tugged Soi's jeans. "All you wear is scraggy jeans."

"Scraggy?"

"And don't go saying that you don't look good in a dress. I have the utmost confidence that you'll look stunning tonight."

"Not likely," Soi muttered ignoring the slightly pained and confused look in Yoruichi's eyes.

"Don't matter," Kuukaku butted in. "No one will be lookin' at ya anyway. All eyes will be on her Highness tonight." She bowed in an exaggerated manner towards Yoruichi.

Yoruichi held her left hand out towards Kuukaku, a mock regal look on her face. Kuukaku, still bowed over, raised her head and eyeballed Yoruichi's outstretched hand. "Ya can go to hell if ya think I'm kissing that."

"Least I didn't ask you to kiss my ring," Yoruichi replied with a wicked grin.

"Nah, that's the kid's job."

Yoruichi threw her head back and laughed, while Soi blushed and sunk lower into the couch, her face covered by her hands. She absolutely hated it when she was the butt of Kuukaku's course humour, and she usually was. It didn't help that, more often than not, Yoruichi set the jokes up and laughed the longest and loudest over them. Kuukaku seemed to have a talent for bringing out Yoruichi's more immature side.

Turning her head away from the giggling pair, Soi heard the unmistakable rattle of keys in the apartment door, followed by it being noisily booted open. She, Yoruichi and Kuukaku all turned their heads to see who it was. Urahara burst through the open door his dark green coat swirling dramatically behind him.

"It's snowing!" He announced with a flourish of his hat.

"Is it?" Yoruichi turned and bounded from the couch and towards the window. "It is!" She cried excitedly. "Goddammit! I hate the snow." Her shoulders slumped and her head fell forward against the window.

"And look who I ran into," Urahara stepped aside and gestured towards the still open door.

To Soi's ever growing annoyance, Matsumoto stepped inside over burdened with bags. She dropped a few just inside the apartment, and then flicked her long strawberry blonde hair back; her cheeks were tinged pink with the cold.

"A gentleman would have helped me," She said to Urahara while she unwound her scarf with one hand. She dumped it onto the pile of discarded bags and then set about unbuttoning her coat. Like Yoruichi, Matsumoto was another one who seemed to have been born with an inbuilt weather guard. Despite the snow her hair still looked salon perfect, and the apple pink tinge to her cheeks seemed deliberate rather than chapped.

"I held the door open for you," He said with a smile before donning his hat again. "Besides, I knew you had it well in hand. You're a very capable woman, Rangiku-Chan, and I doubt you need any man to aid you."

Matsumoto stared at him. "Who do those lines work on?"

Urahara slumped slightly, he kicked close the door with his foot, and then he brightened up again. "Apparently not you. You're much too astute to fall for my charms."

"Is he always like this?" Matsumoto asked turning towards Yoruichi.

"You get used to it," Yoruichi replied. "I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

"Keeping busy," Matsumoto said. She kicked off her shoes and picked up some of the bags she had brought with her. She then made her way over towards Yoruichi. She placed them carefully over the back of the couch. "You haven't been out in ages."

"Her and Soi are like an old married couple," Kuukaku explained before Yoruichi could answer. "They stay in and play Scrabble."

"Is it dirty Scrabble?" Matsumoto asked. "I'm an expert at that game."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Yoruichi smiled. She wandered back over from the window and back to the couch, stopping to peek inside the bags that Matsumoto had brought with her. "Have you spoken to Gin?" she asked almost idly as she searched through the bags.

"No," Matsumoto replied curtly. "Stupid man. I don't want to speak to him. Actually I'm thinking I should switch sides and join your team. You people seem to have fun."

"What exactly do you mean by 'you people'?" Yoruichi asked slowly with narrowed eyes.

Matsumoto only smiled though and cocked her head to the side. "You look different."

"I do?"

"Hmm, you do," the busty woman raised a hand to her face and tapped her finger against her chin. "I'm not sure what it is but, I dunno, you have a glow to you." She paused here and then her eyes brightened as her eyes trailed from Yoruichi and down to Soi. "Unbelievable," She murmured, a soft smile on her lips. "Looks like I'm going to be the last woman standing." She said somewhat cryptically and then laughed.

"Okay," Yoruichi said confusedly. "Anyways, did you get what I asked?"

"I did, I did!" Matsumoto seized the largest bag she had draped over the couch. "I managed to find something really good. It's just perfect. She's going to look great in it!" Matsumoto then turned her attention to Soi, her eyes wide with excitement.

"No," Soi said immediately. She did not like the look in the obnoxious woman's eyes.

"You don't know what it is yet," Yoruichi replied.

"I can guess."

"Humour me," the Goddess said with a smile. She moved round the side of the couch and sat down on the coffee table, facing Soi. "Remember how I said that it had all been taken care of?"

"You bought me a dress?" Soi guessed.

Yoruichi's face fell at Soi's annoyed tone. "You need one for tonight."

"Stop buying me things," Soi told her.

"You need one for tonight," Yoruichi repeated. "Just take a look at it; I'm sure you'll like it."

Sighing in annoyance, Soi sat up and reached for the dress-bag that was in Matsumoto's hands. She pulled it towards her and pulled the zip down, the label fell out and she glanced at it. Her heart nearly stopped right there. She felt queasy as she carefully, _very carefully, _placed the dress-bag back down, and sat back.

Her hand covered her eyes. "Yoruichi, please tell me that the price of that thing is a joke."

"Why, how much was it?" Yoruichi picked the bag up and flicked out the price tag. "Ah, it was cheaper than I thought it would be."

"Cheaper?" Soi screeched. "It's nearly five hundred thousand yen! I could pay my rent for a year with that? I'd have money left over to feed myself for a year! Shit! I'll spend the rest of my life paying you back."

"Firstly; that's an exaggeration. And secondly; it's a gift. You don't need to pay me back."

"A gift? Stop buying me things!" Soi bellowed at her. "Especially such expensive things that I don't-" She was cut short by Yoruichi's hand slapping over her mouth.

"Okay, here's a new game," Yoruichi said, her eyes narrowed and her tone serious. "I'm not going to speak to you if you're going to be unreasonable like this. There's absolutely no reason for you to be getting so bent out of shape. It's my money and I'll spend it however I damn well please, and that includes on you. Now, the next words that leave your mouth had better be spoken in a more level tone."

Soi felt her face heat up in anger and shame. Yoruichi was treating her like a child, and what made it worse was that she knew that she deserved it. Yoruichi removed her hand from Soi's mouth, and the smaller girl sat back, her eyes downcast. A rather uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

Soi swallowed the raw lump that was forming in her throat. "Sorry," She muttered sullenly.

"Good stuff," Yoruichi grinned and leant forward ruffling Soi's hair as she leaned past the younger girl to hang over the back of the couch to face Matsumoto. "So what else did you get?"

Soi heard Matsumoto clear her throat before answering. "I got her some shoes too," she laughed. "I'm going to take the price off of those before I show her them though. They might have cost more than the dress."

Soi felt her heart sink even further. Why was it so hard for Yoruichi to understand that she didn't want any of these expensive gifts? She could feel Yoruichi's leg pressed against her arm, could feel the warmth seeping from the Goddess, and Soi hated herself for wanting to lean into it. She raised her eyes to find that Kuukaku was gracing her with an odd look. It almost looked sympathetic; an emotion that Soi had previously felt sure that the Shiba woman was incapable of feeling. Soi looked away. She didn't need Kuukaku's pity. It was especially wasted on a situation like this.

It was strange, but the past week with Yoruichi had been so different to what she was used to. She had forgotten how blunt Yoruichi could be with her words, just how cruel she was capable of being. Or perhaps Soi was just being too sensitive. She knew, on some level, that Yoruichi hadn't intended to seem so unkind. And she also knew that it was well within Yoruichi's capabilities to be far crueler.

Soi cursed her treacherous and overly analytical mind. Everything was going so well with them, why was she trying to pick holes? Pushing away all her thoughts of Yoruichi's insensitivity, and her own childish outbursts, she found she was left with only a nagging sense of guilt grating away at the back of her mind.

_Are you not even interested?" His voice was soft like silk, and the mocking laughter cut like a knife. "Not even if I said that it was in your best interests?"_

Soi's head slumped forward. She was starting to think that the brief conversation was going to be permanently tattooed in her memory. She raised her hand to her mouth and chewed on her thumb nail, vaguely aware that it was someone else habit and not hers. She could hear Yoruichi laughing softly at something Matsumoto had said, and felt the Goddess shift next to her.

A sturdy hand landed on Soi's head and she looked up to see Yoruichi looking down on her. "That okay then?" The Goddess asked.

"Huh?" Soi said. She hadn't heard a word of Yoruichi and Matsumoto's conversation.

Yoruichi frowned. "Did you space again?" her hand slipped from the top of Soi's head and she trailed her fingers down Soi's pale face to her chin, and she tilted Soi's head back. "Are you sure you're alright? You're not going to have a stroke or something, are you?"

"No, and I'm fine. Really I am," Soi forced a small smile. "What were you saying?"

"Rangiku's going to do your hair and make-up for tonight."

Soi couldn't stop her face from falling. Was this some sort of test? Was Yoruichi trying to determine how far Soi could be pushed before she finally snapped and killed someone? There was no point in arguing against it though. If this was what Yoruichi had decided then it was what would happen. The Goddess always got what she wanted. Always.

"Whatever," Soi said with a disinterested shrug of her shoulders.

Yoruichi sighed. "Excuse us," she said to Matsumoto. She grabbed Soi's wrist and pulled her to her feet. Soi followed Yoruichi, who was still gripping her wrist, as she led her to the bedroom. Soi wandered through the door, shuffling her feet and her head bowed forward. She heard Yoruichi close the door behind them and sighed before turning. She expected Yoruichi to lecture her again; instead she felt a hand cup her cheek. She looked up to find nothing but concern reflected in Yoruichi's eyes.

"I know this isn't your thing, and I know that it's a hassle but," She exhaled. "Could you just put up with it?"

"I am, aren't I?"

"Okay, then could you pretend that you're enjoying yourself?"

_What?_

"I asked Rangiku to come round and help you because I figured that it would be easier this way. You hate this kind of thing, and frankly, you suck at it," The corners of Yoruichi's lips twitched as she said this. "See! You can't even begin to deny it. I thought that it would be easier this way. Also, it's good for Rangiku."

Soi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I know it looks like she's coping, but she's been a bit lost ever since Gin left," Yoruichi explained. "He pretty much just up and left her without warning. Cleared out all his stuff from their apartment in, like, an afternoon, and then all he said to her was: 'sorry'. She misses him. When I mentioned to her about picking out an outfit for you, well her face really lit up. It's a great distraction for her."

Soi sighed. "So I have to suffer hours of torture at her hands, just to make her feel better?"

"Please?"

"Fine!" Soi agreed.

Yoruichi grinned and took hold of Soi's face, pulling her in for a quick kiss. "Thank you!" she kissed her again. "And just so you know, she's going to be torturing me as well."

"Well, that makes me feel a little better."

"I knew it would," Yoruichi grinned. Her lips found Soi's again, this time for a long, deeper kiss, that left Soi feeling a little light headed. Yoruichi turned from her and hurried to the door, she stopped suddenly and turned to face Soi. "If you really don't want the dress, then we can dump it in a charity store or something after tonight."

Soi nodded. "Okay," She smiled as Yoruichi flashed her yet another grin and then disappeared from the room. Sighing, Soi followed her, slowly, dragging her feet. Once through the door she could see Yoruichi talking excitedly to Matsumoto; who, now that Soi took a proper look, did have a tired strained look about her eyes. Soi had never liked Ichimaru, though she wasn't all that fond of Matsumoto either, but she knew that the over exuberant woman didn't deserve what had happened to her.

Turning from them, Soi looked over to the kitchen; Urahara was sitting on one of the stools playing with his phone. She placed her hand in her pocket and brushed her fingers across the smooth surface of her own phone. She hadn't received a single phone call since Yoruichi's father had phoned. Not even her parents had called, which was strange, especially considering her mother's campaign to bring her back to China.

Soi found her feet taking her over to Urahara. Stupid really, she didn't particularly like him either, though she supposed that she should at least wish him a happy birthday. She sat down on the stool next to him and dumped her phone on the bar top; the cracked screen looking even worse than it had when she had first broke it.

Urahara looked up. "When did you break your phone, Soi-Chan?"

"A while ago," She replied. "It still works. I just can't see who is calling."

"Ah," He pulled her phone towards him with a long finger. "So do you just answer it whenever it rings? Or are you ignoring all calls in case it's someone you don't want to speak to?"

"Answering."

"Brave girl," He muttered. "I'd hate to accidently answer a call from my mother. Still," He tilted his head and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "There are worse people to receive calls from."

Soi went cold. Her head snapped round and she stared at him with wide eyes. He gave her a knowing smile. Then, without another word, he hoisted himself from the stool and made his way towards Yoruichi, cheerfully demanding who would be doing his make-up.

* * *

**Well that took me a while. I do have excuses, but none of them are interesting so I'll keep them to myself.**

**I was too lazy to do a proper spelling and grammar check, so there are probably loads of mistakes. I don't care. I haven't slept in a looooooooooooooooong time. Actually, I haven't slept in that long that I may be starting to hallucinate, and that's never a good thing. **

**Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you for reading! And thanks for all the reviews, favourites and to all those who've put this on their story-alert. You are all made of awesome! ...except for you, yes you at the back. I'm watching you... (Is slowly going crazy form sleep deprivation)**


	16. World of Glass

World of Glass

Moonlight filtered through Grimmjow's fingers and cast long thin shadows across his face. He had his hand raised high above his head, silhouetted against the full moon. He curled his fingers and made a fist, clenching it tightly until the muscle along his forearm contracted and the veins seemed to bulge from beneath his lightly tanned skin.

It hurt.

With a snarl he dropped his hand to his side and it thumped against his car door. He grimaced as pain lanced up his arm. It was still injured after what that bastard Tousen had done to it. It was also still supposed to be bandaged, but he had grown annoyed at the way they restricted him and had taken them off days ago.

Grimmjow's lips curled back as he remembered Tousen's actions, remembered the sound of the bone creaking under pressure and then the sound of his elbow popping and finally cracking.

_Bastard, bastard, bastard! _Grimmjow thought furiously. Tousen had caught him off guard. If he had been paying attention then there was no chance that Tousen could have laid a finger on him. Grimmjow was stronger than him. He _knew _he was stronger than him. If he hadn't been distracted by Aizen then there was no way Tousen could have touched him.

He spat and then folded his arms, ignoring the stark pain in his left arm. After a few minutes he looked up, hearing the sound of approaching footsteps. His lip curled when he saw the two figures approaching. They were who he was waiting for, but that didn't mean he was happy to see them.

"What took ya's so long?" He demanded.

The shorter of the two looked unperturbed by his anger, his pale face devoid of emotion. But then Grimmjow had never seen anything other than a blank expression on Ulquiorra's face. He had never seen him smile, never seen him look sad, happy nor angry – and Grimmjow had tried his absolute damndest to make the pale youth angry. Nothing had worked so far and his mere presence pissed Grimmjow off.

"Heh, we had things to do," the second man said in a deep voice. "Sides, not like you had anything better to do."

Grimmjow snarled at that. If there was anyone that he hated more than Ulquiorra, and to be honest there were plenty, it was Yammy Rialgo. Big, stupid and useless were the best words to describe him. "I wasn't talking to you!" Grimmjow snarled. He turned to Ulquiorra. "Well, let's get going. The sooner we're done, the sooner I can get away from you two."

"I'm not going," Ulquiorra stated calmly.

"What?"

"I merely came to inform you that there has been a change of plans."

Grimmjow glared at Ulquiorra as though it was his fault. "Am I still grabbing the same chick?"

Ulquiorra didn't answer, merely stared at him with those blank green eyes of his. Creepy fucker.

"Well?" Annoyance flared through Grimmjow followed by anger and a nagging urge to lay Ulquiorra out. One punch would be all it would take. Ulquiorra was fast, but if Grimmjow took him by surprise then he'd land the hit. Easy.

_Do it. Now. Now. Now!_

"Yes," Ulquiorra said. "Yammy is still going with you, but in my place you are to take Aaroniero."

Grimmjow had a sudden urge to smack his own head off of his car. _Aaroniero? _He lost out on the nihilistic bastard and gained a crazy one instead. Perfect, just fucking perfect. Though it could have been worse, he might have had Szayal instead. They had yet to invent a word that described that man.

"Fine!" Grimmjow seethed. "Yammy, get in the fuckin' car."

"This is what yer drivin'?" Yammy laughed. "What a hunk of junk."

"Just get in already! I've got to swing by the crazy's place yet."

Yammy strutted over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door. He peered inside and curled his lip. "What's that smell? Smells like cat piss."

"My car doesn't smell like cat piss!" When this night was over, Grimmjow decided, he would kill Yammy. No one, not even Aizen, would miss the idiot.

Laughing again, Yammy reached inside and pulled out a bag. "What's the cat food for?"

_Idiot. _"My cat, what else?"

Yammy tossed the bag back inside the car and climbed in muttering about the smell. Without looking at Ulquiorra, Grimmjow yanked open the driver side door and climbed in. He could feel Ulquiorra's gaze on him, but he ignored it, jamming his keys into the ignition.

What was he doing here? This wasn't how he had envisioned spending New Year's Eve at all. He should have been in a bar somewhere completely wasted and surrounded by half naked woman. Or completely naked women. Definitely surrounded by women, and definitely tanked up on alcohol. Still, at least there would be a reward for him at the end of the night.

His left arm ached dully.

Pay back. It wasn't just Tousen who had mangled his arm, it had been that bitch too. It had been because of her that Tousen had even dared to touch him. He bared his teeth at the memory, not of Tousen, but of the bitch standing in front of him, thinking that she could take him on. He remembered the condescending look in her eyes, the mocking tone to her voice – bitch!

Aizen had said to take her alive, and Grimmjow would, but alive didn't mean he couldn't visit some pay back on her. After all, she might resist, and he was positive that she would, and then he would be forced to restrain her. He smiled at the thought and in his mind he saw her feeble attempts at escape, at trying to fight him off. He wouldn't do any permanent damage, but he would happily bruise up that pretty face of hers.

She was one of the so called untouchables; very rich, very influential and very much protected by the Gotei 13. Tonight though, they would prove the Gotei 13 were less than inadequate at protecting their charges. Divide and conquer – or something to general effect. Grimmjow hadn't actually been listening to Aizen, he couldn't care less about the Gotei 13 and Aizen's plans for revenge, domination or whatever he was about. Grimmjow's thoughts were too preoccupied with his own revenge.

Tonight, he'd make Shihouin Yoruichi pay for daring to fuck with him.

/\/\/\

Blue spots floated across Yoruichi's vision and she blinked several times in an attempt to displace them. It was futile; as soon as she had cleared her vision the flash of the camera went off again and she was once again met with the blurry blue spots lazily etching their way across her vision.

Mentally she sighed. Her cheeks were starting to ache from smiling so much and she was fairly sure she was starting to look fairly manic because of it. Her feet were sore, her back stiff and her right knee, still not recovered from when Grimmjow had knocked it, just plain hurt. It didn't help that she was wearing heels, or a shockingly uncomfortable dress, and then there was the ludicrous and very heavy ornament she had in her hair. She was sure it looked very nice, but it was so heavy that she was a little worried about permanent neck damage. It had taken Rangiku nearly two hours to fix it into her hair, made all the more unbearable by Kuukaku's smart ass comments and Soi's smirk.

This was what happened when you let your family coordinate your outfit. Or rather an overzealous assistant acting on behalf of the family. Yoruichi had nearly choked when she had first laid eyes on the hideous dress that Lisa had procured for her. Apparently it was a gift from a business partner or something like that who they absolutely did not want to offend, and so Yoruichi had been forced to wear it. She knew it was a formal occasion of sorts, but there was really no need for the monstrosity that she was wearing.

Another flash went off and Yoruichi couldn't hold back the wince as she was temporarily blinded by it.

"And we are done!" the photographer announced.

"Thank goodness," Yoruichi said, relief flooding her system. She stepped back from the stiff figure standing next to her, her hand dropping from his arm. "Well, Byakuya, that was relatively painless."

He didn't answer straight away, opting instead to fiddle with his cufflinks, his gaze determinedly pointed away from Yoruichi. Once satisfied that the cuffs of his shirt, and the accompanying cufflinks, were in suitable order; he turned to Yoruichi. "True."

She cocked her head to the side when he offered no other words. "You know, no one is going to believe that we're dating if you act like such a stiff round me."

"I wasn't aware that we were trying to make people believe such a ridiculous premise," he turned to her, his features devoid of expression.

She sighed. "It's a game, Byakuya, you know it is," she turned her gaze towards the small crowd that was gathering near the bar. She didn't particularly like any of them; board members, investors, old family acquaintances, all people her father wanted to impress. All people whom she, in her position as heir to the Shihouin Empire, was supposed to impress on his behalf. She had been constantly reminded by her ever dutiful assistant that her actions reflected on her father, her family's name and on the company. The same held true for Byakuya, as the heir to the Kuchiki's company and fortune, he had to perform the same tedious duties that she did.

It would have been seen as improper for her to attend her own birthday dinner without an escort, and so Byakuya had been roped into it. There were strong business ties between both their families, and it only made sense to give the impression that there were strong personal ties as well. As such, she and Byakuya were dutifully acting as though there was something more between them.

"I don't like it anymore then you do, but it doesn't hurt to play up to their expectations a little," she told him.

Byakuya considered her, and then turned his head, gazing past her. "Foolish. There is little to be gained from this act."

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter what we think," She tilted her head back and tried to catch his eye, but he was looking right over her head. "We just have to act the part of dutiful heirs and do what we're told." Her eyes narrowed when he didn't answer. She turned round to see what he was looking at so intently.

Across the room, and up in the raised seating area, Yoruichi could see Rukia talking to Soi. They were standing away from the bar and as far away from the party as politeness would allow. Yoruichi fervently hoped that both Rukia and Soi had simply tired of the facetious attitude of the investors and had sought out solidarity. The other option was that Soi had been forced to stand that far away from them, and Rukia, who was always uncomfortable around these kinds of people, had taken pity on her and joined her.

Both Yoruichi and Byakuya slowly headed over to the steps that led up to the seating area. Stopping at the bottom, Byakuya looked to up the steps and at his sister. "Rukia," he called his voice soft.

"Nii-Sama," She with a genuine smile. She turned to Soi and said something that Yoruichi couldn't hear from here, and then she descended the stairs, taking Byakuya's offered arm. "Yoruichi-San, you look beautiful." The small girl said with a sincere smile.

"Thank you, I know," Yoruichi replied with a teasing wink. "You're looking quite beautiful yourself." It was true, Rukia was dressed in a simple white dress that clung to her slim frame, and when she turned the fabric of the dress almost seemed to shimmer under the light and turn silver. She held her wrap somewhat self-consciously around her shoulders, and smiled; a slight pinkness to her cheeks.

"I feel over-dressed," she confessed.

"Believe me, no one here is more over-dressed than I am," Yoruichi assured her, resisting the temptation to touch the ridiculous ornament that was holding her hair in place. "You look gorgeous." Yoruichi told her with a smile.

Rukia's eyes brightened at the compliment and she opened her mouth perhaps to reply.

"Let's go, Rukia," Byakuya cut in, pulling the girl gently away.

Yoruichi watched them walk away. Sighing she turned to the steps and started up them, lifting the hem of her long dress with one hand. Soi was standing at the other side leaning on the railing, her back to Yoruichi. Slowly, Yoruichi let her eyes wander over Soi; she had to admit the dress that Rangiku had picked out definitely suited the smaller girl. The black dress was small and elegantly cut diagonally across Soi's body leaving her left shoulder bare and her right leg fairly exposed. Yoruichi couldn't help but notice that the material clung closely to Soi, accentuating her petite curves, and leaving very little to the imagination.

She wondered if she would be able to convince Soi to wear the dress again later, just for her. Probably not, but it would definitely be worth a try. She smirked as she continued to enjoy the view before her, her eyes scanning across the curve of Soi's neck and to her naked shoulder.

She did look very good in that dress, perhaps a little too good. What if someone else noticed how good Soi looked? That made Yoruichi pause; she hadn't ever had to deal with other people fawning over Soi. All too often people dismissed Soi as plain looking, and those few who did find her physically appealing were put off by her abrasive attitude. Really, Soi was perfectly capable of fending off unwanted admirers all by herself.

Still, Yoruichi figured that it wouldn't hurt to keep her close tonight, just in case.

She stopped next to Soi, her hand placed softly against the smaller girl's back. Soi turned to face her, a smile gracing her face and Yoruichi had to resist the urge to kiss her. Her eyes flickered over the side and to the gathering of investors and family 'friends' by the bar, she wondered what they'd do if she did kiss Soi. The older ones would probably suffer cardiac arrest. It annoyed Yoruichi that she had to keep up this pretence; that she had to stand next to Byakuya and pretend that there was something between them, that she couldn't even hold Soi's hand right now.

She found herself moving closer to Soi. Why should she care what those vultures down there thought? She moved even closer to Soi, their bodies nearly touching. After all she _didn't_ care what they thought. Her hand rested on Soi's hip, and she looked down into Soi's eyes, into those stormy greys, and she head lowering, lips parting slightly and –

"Yoruichi," Soi warned, her voice carried an edge to it.

Yoruichi's hand dropped from Soi's waist and she leant casually against the railing and tilted her head to the side; grinning playfully. "What?"

"You know what," Soi answered in a resentful tone. She turned away from Yoruichi, and leant her elbows on the railing, her eyes scanning over the crowd below.

Sighing loudly, Yoruichi leant on the railing too. From up here she could see Byakuya talking to several board members with Rukia by his side, looking politely bored. Casting her eye over the crowd, Yoruichi picked out Kisuke flirting with nearly all of the women present; they tittered behind their hands as he regaled them with what was probably a grossly exaggerated tale. Frowning, Yoruichi wondered where Kuukaku was, she couldn't see Kaien either.

"So, who are they all?" Soi asked.

"No one interesting," Yoruichi smiled. "Most are board members and their wives. A few are friends of the family, and when I say friends, I mean investors in the illegal side of our enterprise."

"Oh?" Soi raised an eyebrow. "I had no idea that the Shihouin Empire was involved in illegal activities."

"Don't all major companies have a few shadier areas?" Yoruichi asked. "They're all just here for appearances sake though. They couldn't care less that it's my birthday. They're just here to judge me, and through me judge my father."

A smirk made its way up Soi's face. "Poor tragic rich girl," she replied, her head tilted and she looked at Yoruichi out of the corner of her eye. "How difficult it must have been for you, what with all your money, your giant house, holiday homes and a plethora of servants at your beck and call. Brings a tear to the eye."

"Oi!" Yoruichi nudged Soi with her elbow. "Don't make fun. It was hard. There was an awful lot of standing around and having random people tell me what a beautiful wife I'd make one day. I always had to watch what I said, or how I acted, and I had to excel at absolutely everything." She sighed dramatically. "Not to mention my diamond shoes were far too tight."

Soi laughed, which in turn made Yoruichi smile. _She should laugh more often, _she thought enjoying the way Soi's eyes had closed when she laughed, the slight crinkle of skin at the corner of her eyes and the faint blush on her cheeks.

Slowly the smile faded and was replaced by a more serious look. "Was it lonely?" She asked.

Yoruichi was surprised by the unexpected question. She looked away from Soi and down at the group of supposed well-wishers. "Sometimes," she admitted. "But I had Kisuke. His mother used to work for my father, and she'd often bring Kisuke with her when she visited. Although he used to get me into trouble."

"I'm sure you were more than capable of getting into trouble all on your own," Soi replied. "So, Urahara-San's mother worked for your father? Is that why you have a joint celebration for your birthdays?"

"You mean aside from his being the day before mine?"

"It all seems to be official family business," Soi said. "If it was just planning between two friends then the dates are excuse enough, but this is different."

"My father always liked Kisuke, and Kisuke got on well with him," Yoruichi explained with a shrug. "All of Kisuke's education was paid by us, and that's including university. Even though they don't get on anymore, my father still checks up on Kisuke now and then, and insists that he is included in any family dealings."

Soi nodded. "Why don't they speak anymore?"

"Fell out when Kisuke and I were in high school, when we started dating," Yoruichi said. "You'd have thought that he'd have been ecstatic since he was so fond of Kisuke, but he flipped his lid. I seriously don't think I've ever seen him so angry. He told us that we weren't allowed to see each other, but of course that only encouraged me. Anything to piss him off." She rubbed at her forehead with her thumb and laughed lightly. "When I broke up with Kisuke, he phoned me to tell me it was the right thing to do. I guess Kisuke was a bit too beneath my station for him." She paused and chewed on her thumb nail before continuing. "I've always figured Kisuke's mother must have known some sort of dirty little secret and was extorting my father, y'know; since he still looks out for Kisuke."

"I had no idea," Soi turned her gaze towards Kisuke, who was still flirting with the group of middle-aged women a strange expression on her small face. "I understand why the Kuchiki's are here, but what about the Shiba's? Is Kuukaku here as your friend or as Urahara-San's date? And then what about Kaien? The Shiba family don't have all that many links business wise with your family."

Had Soi read up on her family or something? Yoruichi didn't understand how she could possibly know which families were linked through business to hers, unless she had spent time researching them. "Well, I used to spend a lot of time with the Shiba's as a child. And I suppose there's also the fact that Kaien's technically my ex fiancé."

Soi's head snapped round and she stared at Yoruichi. "What?"

Yoruichi grinned. "You didn't know?"

Soi shook her head.

"It was a long time ago. Pretty much as soon as I was born a match was made between us," She paused a moment and brought her thumb back to her mouth so that she could chew on the nail. "Once I'd finished high-school I was to marry him. But this was all conditional on a son being born to inherit the Shihouin Empire. An heir and a spare or so my father always used to say. In this case, despite being the eldest, I was meant to be the spare. Of course my mother died before she could give him the son he wanted, and I was left as the sole heir."

"So the engagement was ended?"

"Yup," Yoruichi nodded. "The Shiba's were pissed off, and years later they offered Ganju as a substitute, but dad wasn't going for it. I've never understood why he just didn't re-marry and have more children. Hell, I even gave him my blessings once."

"Perhaps he loved your mother too much and felt as though he'd be betraying her."

Yoruichi barked out a bitter laugh. "Not likely. I doubt that he's even capable of love." She turned around and leaned back on the railing, crossing her arms in front of her. She tilted her head back, a wistful expression on her face "Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if Kaien and I had married. I suppose it would have solved a few problems."

"Problems?" Soi asked. She sounded mildly insulted.

"Don't sound like that," Yoruichi told her. "I just mean that there would probably be a lot less hiding. Since Kaien knows and accepts my sexuality, he would have left me alone and wouldn't have forced me to do anything I didn't want to." She nudged Soi again with her elbow and winked at her. "I could have kept you as my mistress."

"Hilarious," Soi deadpanned. "What about the heir and the spare?"

"Huh?"

"Children," Soi said her voice sounding more than a little bit bitter. "You'd have been expected to have children."

There wouldn't ever have been children, not with Kaien, he'd never have children. It was yet another reason why Yoruichi could possibly have stomached the situation, though she was fairly sure she'd have been miserable. Still, Soi didn't know that, and it was fun teasing her like this; especially when she huffed so adorably. "I imagine I would have just gotten myself very, very drunk."

"What?" Soi stared at her incredulously.

"You know, Dutch courage. I'd have gotten myself completely wasted, then lied back, spread my legs and thought of-"

"That is beyond stupid!" Soi seethed. "I mean, you – gah!" She threw her hands in the air. "You'd have had retarded children!"

"Ah, ah, Soi," Yoruichi waggled her finger at the irate girl. "You're missing the point. We'd have had beautiful, retarded children. Honestly, when you're this rich and good looking, no one cares if you suffer from uncontrollable drooling."

Soi stared, her eye twitching. Yoruichi grinned back at her; her head cocked to the side and her eyes closed as she fought back the laughter that was threatening to spill from her. She heard Soi let out a long sigh. Opening her eyes Yoruichi was greeted with the sight of Soi looking away with her fists clenched.

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"You should have seen your face," Yoruichi smiled. "I have to say, I'm liking how outraged you were on my behalf. Very cute."

Soi blushed. "You wouldn't have married him?"

"I probably wouldn't have had a choice," Yoruichi admitted in a more serious tone. "But there wouldn't have been children. We'd have enjoyed a completely sexless marriage. Well, we certainly wouldn't have had sex with each other. I was serious about keeping you as my mistress."

"If you had married Kaien then we wouldn't have met," Soi pointed out. "You wouldn't have managed the Second bar; I would never have worked for you..."

That was a sobering thought and Yoruichi felt all traces of good humour leave her. She briefly wondered what her life would have been like if she had never met Soi. Or what her life would be like if Soi were to suddenly disappear from it.

She took a step towards Soi and took a hold of her hand, her thumb gently brushing over the back of it. "Yeah we would have," She said with absolute certainty, and a smile. "However things had worked out, I'm positive that we would have still met."

"I had no idea you were such a believer in fate."

"I'm not," Yoruichi admitted. "Or in soul mates either, or in whatever else. But I do think that certain people are drawn to each other, that no matter the circumstances they always find each other."

Soi smiled at that, her eyes softened and there was a very faint blush to her cheeks. Yoruichi stepped closer to her and gave her hand a squeeze. Soi's head tipped back and her eyes met Yoruichi's, she tilted her head to the side. Yoruichi found herself closing the gap between them; her lips parting slightly and her eyes sliding closed. She leant in, her body pressing close to Soi's, their fingers intertwined. They were inches apart and she could feel the warmth from Soi's face on hers, could feel her soft breath, and she found herself inhaling that wonderful intoxicating scent that only Soi seemed to possess. She pressed herself closer; wondered if Soi could feel her heart beating, it was certainly going fast enough, and -

Something jabbed Yoruichi in the kidney.

Hard.

"Ow!" She cried out straightening up. A flash of white streaked past her eyes and struck her and Soi's hands knocking them apart. "What the hell?" She demanded turning to face whoever had hit her.

Lisa stood, right next to them, adjusting her glasses and brandishing a large folded paper fan. "What did I tell you about your rampant lesbianism?"

"I'm holding her hand, that's hardly rampant!" Yoruichi protested. She rubbed at her hand where Lisa had struck her.

"You were going to kiss her."

"Yes, but in a 'friends' kind of way."

"Friends don't use tongues," Lisa admonished.

"My lips were firmly closed," Yoruichi lied.

Lisa placed her fists on her hips and gave Yoruichi a flat stare. "Who do you think you're kidding?"

"Apparently not you," Yoruichi muttered though she was smiling. She had been wondering when Yadomaru would show up, it had been ... quiet, without her here. It was unfortunate that she had to assume that Lisa was spying on her for her father, since Yoruichi genuinely enjoyed her assistant's company. Lisa wasn't afraid to stand up to Yoruichi, would speak to the heiress as though she was a normal person and gave as good as she got in the teasing stakes. It also didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes. Not that Yoruichi would go there again, the once had been enough, and the once had been fairly traumatising.

Lisa's eyes turned to Soi and she smiled. "You're looking very nice Soi," she said. "That dress suits you."

Yoruichi didn't like the way that Lisa was looking at Soi, the way her eyes raked up and down Soi's small frame or that predatory gleam hidden behind her glasses. Yoruichi stepped between the pair, pushing Soi gently behind her while she fixed an all too pleasant a smile on her face.

"Feeling possessive?" Lisa asked mirroring Yoruichi's smile. "Or threatened perhaps? Am I encroaching on your territory? I was merely paying her a compliment. Is she not allowed to be complimented?"

"_You're _not allowed to compliment her," Yoruichi replied. "Especially not with that filthy look in your eyes."

"I don't have a filthy look in my eyes," Lisa rebutted. "You just have filthy thoughts. Besides, if I have a filthy look in my eye then it only doubles the compliment."

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh, is that how it works?" She could almost sense the tenseness about Soi behind her. "Just you be keeping your filthy thoughts to yourself."

"You shouldn't go dressing her in such flattering attire if you can't handle her being admired."

_Note to self, dress Soi in something awful next time._

"Look, what do you want?" Yoruichi demanded feeling unusually flustered.

"Everyone's taking their seats and your presence is required," Lisa said adopting an official tone.

Yoruichi sighed; she wasn't looking forward to spending the evening stuck next to Byakuya. It wasn't that she disliked him. She had always gotten on very well with him and did enjoy his company - in small doses and in less formal occasions. In a place like this, surrounded by board members and other self-important asses, it was quite likely that Byakuya would have placed a stick quite firmly up his own ass. Yoruichi wondered what had happened to the brash arrogant youth that had chased her when she teased him.

She stepped to the side and turned to Soi, who had an adorably annoyed scowl plastered on her face. Yoruichi flashed a smile. "Sorry Soi, guess I've got to go face the vultures," She said. "Rukia's sitting near you though, so you'll have someone to talk to." Yoruichi raised her hand to touch her hair, the ornament that Rangiku had expertly wound into it felt heavy.

Lisa's hand shot out and seized Yoruichi's wrist. "Don't go messing your hair up. They're going to be taking pictures throughout the meal."

"Oh lovely, I don't even get to eat in peace," Yoruichi mumbled glaring at her assistant.

"Don't blame me! I'm just here to make sure you behave yourself."

"I am more than capable of behaving."

"I beg to differ."

Now that was too much. Yoruichi's eyes narrowed and a faint sneer pulled at her lips. "That's a really bad case of the pot calling the kettle black, don't you think?"

"Is it?" Lisa said and then pointed her fan straight at Yoruichi. "I'll have you know Shihouin-San that I am a model example of how to conduct oneself in dignified company. I am well-mannered, intelligent and-"

"Easy?" Yoruichi suggested.

Lisa's face flushed angrily. "No!"

"Face it, Lisa," Yoruichi continued in an infuriatingly calm voice. "The only way you know how to impress dignified company is by spreading your-"

"Enough from you!" Lisa screeched her face beet red. She was clutching the paper fan so tightly that her whole arm trembled.

"Now is that how you speak to your benevolent employer?" she sighed in mock disappointment. "I have to say, I expected better from you." This was almost as much fun as teasing Soi. Thinking of her made Yoruichi's vision flicker quickly to the girl, checking to see if she was all right. Soi had a bored expression on her face and didn't really seem to be paying Yoruichi and Lisa much attention.

Lisa angrily rearranged her glasses. "And I expected more from the Heir to the Shihouin Empire. A little propriety wouldn't go amiss."

"And what would a pervert know about propriety?"

Lisa's eyes bulged. "I am NOT a pervert!" She seethed. "You lazy, arrogant - "

"Careful Lisa, you know if you get too angry you'll revert to your Succubus form."

"You mangy cat!"

"Whore!"

"Lesbian!"

Well Yoruichi could hardly deny that one. Still, it was hardly an insult, and more a statement of fact. Yoruichi grinned at Lisa and leant back, her arms folding across her chest.

"Now that really is a bad case of the pot calling the kettle black," Yoruichi stated calmly.

Lisa looked like she was going to explode. She drew herself back, her face an angry shade of red, and her fists clenched. And then she stopped and seemed to deflate. Yoruichi thought that Lisa was about to give up on their childish insults and concede defeat, until a slow and very sly smile crept its way up her assistants face. Lisa turned to face Soi, who looked slightly taken aback to suddenly be acknowledged. Yoruichi felt suddenly uneasy by this strange turn. She was fairly sure that Lisa wouldn't draw Soi into the argument, and so kept quiet.

Lisa's eyes flickered over to Yoruichi and then back to Soi. "Stick your fingers up her butt, Soi, and she'll squeal like a pig!"

Yoruichi felt her jaw drop at her assistant's unbelievably crass words. Lisa, her eyes blazing**,** flashed a triumphant grin the Goddess's way before turning on her heel. She marched away with her head held high in victory.

It took Yoruichi a few moments to close her gaping mouth. She turned to face Soi, expecting the girl to be blushing furiously. Instead she was met by a slightly amused expression.

Soi shrugged. "I already knew that."

"I do not squeal like a pig!" Yoruichi said indignantly.

"You make a hell of a noise," Soi replied with another shrug of her shoulders. A smirk was pulling at the corners of her mouth. She walked past Yoruichi, deliberately ignoring the Goddess's glare. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"Uh-huh," Yoruichi turned to follow Soi. She stooped to whisper in the girl's ear. "And you weren't the one who was squealing to the heavens this morning?" Soi's face went pale and then erupted in a furious blush. Yoruichi smirked. "And you weren't begging me this morning for more? Hmm?" Yoruichi turned Soi to face her and kissed her quickly, her lips pressed hard against Soi's. "Don't worry," She teased. "I won't tell anyone."

* * *

**Whew! That was a much quicker up-date than last time. And another looooooong chapter! One day I'm going to write a nice normal length chapter (under 3000 words); at least that's the goal. I also have really long author notes. Feel free to skip them (I'm sure most of you do).**

**So I very nearly had Soi wear a Chinese dress; there's a picture floating about somewhere of her in a lilac one and I kind of like it. I decided against it though (obviously) and went with a plain black one. I think I was too lazy to describe the pattern...**

**Thanks for all reviews/support so far. Click the review button below and tell me what you think. **

_**World of Glass **_**by Tristania**


	17. Made of Glass

**This chapter is for my older brother because without his aid it never would have happened. I'm really sorry you missed honour farming in Alterac Valley, and that you got a parking ticket (whoops) but thanks again for fixing Neji (that's my PC, yes I named it Neji, and no I don't care what **_**you**_** think).**

**

* * *

**

Made of Glass

Aikawa Love had thought that it was cold outside. It was the middle of winter. Snow had started to fall thick and heavy earlier in the day and now the city was blanketed in a fluffy white cover. A bit late for snow he figured, having expected it a few weeks earlier, but not an unwelcome sight all the same. Still, when wandering the streets of Tokyo, a little bit tipsy despite the pretence of work, it was never nice to be cold; especially when you've lost your coat. He'd left it somewhere in the Seventh bar after an attractive young woman had looked, if at all possible, even colder than he felt.

Abandoning the Seventh bar; and in his humble opinion the best bar among the Gotei 13, even if it's newest manager had taken it in a different direction, he had soldiered on to the Eighth – downing a few shots of something or other to keep his blood warm, and then again off to the Ninth where bitter memories threatened to ruin his night. It was here that he was meant to finish his night, to wander off to wherever he pleased.

Instead he had found himself stumbling from the bar, his arm slung comradely around Rose's thin, but thankfully sturdy, shoulders and out onto the cold streets again. There was a large crowd of people excitedly pushing their way towards the entrance, all screaming and shouting, and none of them knowing exactly what they were clamouring about. He sighed, it was more like a drunken belch, and then let Rose heft him towards the curb where the foppish man hailed a cab.

"Rose?"

"Yeah?"

Love disentangled himself and attempted to straighten up. He swayed slightly and had to grasp Rose's shoulder before he completely righted himself. "How come you've still got your coat?"

Rose seemed to consider this a moment before answering. "Because this is my favourite coat," he fingered the collar as he spoke. "And I'm not sure if there's a woman out there beautiful enough for me to give away my favourite coat."

Love turned and cast his eyes to the coat. It was a very nice coat; long black and elegantly cut and made from a light material that billowed softly in the wind. Love smiled and patted Rose on the back, probably a little harder then he meant judging by the hollow 'thumps' his open hand made.

"Bet it doesn't keep you warm."

"No, but that's hardly its purpose," Rose said with a small smile. He held his hand out towards the road and seemed to magic a taxi out of nowhere. He held the door open for Love and waited patiently while he negotiated his way into the taxi, flumping down on the leather seats.

"To the Tenth bar," Love told the driver as Rose slid into the car. Love turned to him, squinted as he tried to make out his friend in the dim light of the taxi, not helped by the fact that he was wearing sunglasses. "How come you're not drunk?"

Rose didn't answer, merely smiled lightly and reached inside his coat, pulling out his phone and casting it a slightly puzzled look. "Shinji should have called. I left him a message."

"We'll see him at the Tenth," Love answered. "Don't worry about it."

Love had thought that it was cold outside. It was nothing compared to how cold it was inside the Tenth bar.

/\/\/\

"Holy shit its cold!" Kuukaku bellowed. Her breath misted around her head as she bounced on her feet, her hands rubbing at her exposed arms.

Yoruichi was inclined to agree. They were stood inside the entrance to the Tenth bar, huddled together in a group and with their coats still on. It was actually colder in here than it was outside. Yoruichi breath misted out from between her lips as she shook from the cold, her hands rubbing up and down her biceps in a vain attempt to restore feeling into her numbed limbs.

"Perhaps if you'd worn a sensible coat," Soi suggested with a smug smirk. She was comfortably snuggled inside her thick coat her hands jammed in her pockets and, apart from her cheeks being tinged pink, didn't look cold at all.

Yoruichi scowled at her. "My coat is sensible," She argued, ignoring the fact that the garment provided absolutely no protection from the winter elements. "Besides, it looks good." At least she'd worn a coat, unlike Kuukaku who was now complaining that she was fast losing feeling in her fingers.

Despite the fact that she was close to freezing to death, Yoruichi couldn't help but admire what the Tenth bar had done to decorate the place in honour of New Year. The entrance to the bar was a veritable winter wonderland; ice sculptures of various styles were set up leading the way from the entrance into the bar. At the moment the group were stood in the entrance, but Yoruichi could see a colossal ice sculpture suspended from the ceiling staring through the glass doors and right at her. It all looked quite spectacular, but it was hardly practical. It was freezing outside and felt even colder inside; people would hardly be encouraged to stay for one drink never mind several.

She shuffled closer to Soi and groped for her hand, but couldn't find it. Suppressing a groan, she pressed closer to Soi, could almost feel the warmth from the smaller girl, and moved her hands to the pockets of Soi's coat and pushed her hands inside, pulling her into a hug from behind. Her fingers laced through Soi's gripping her hand, and she rested her chin on Soi's shoulder.

Soi shivered. "Your hands are cold," she said.

"I know," Yoruichi replied. _You're warm though._

It only made Yoruichi feel all the warmer inside when Soi leaned right back into her. She smiled and tightened her hold on Soi, her head tilting and pressing against Soi's. A flash went off close by them and Yoruichi winced, she felt Soi tense up as well and knew that the familiar scowl would be present on her face. Blinking away the spots that blurred her vision, Yoruichi lifted her head to see Rangiku slowly making her way towards them holding up a camera.

"That was so cute!" she enthused, her hands were clenched tightly in front of her, shaking excitedly. "You two were absolutely adorable there!"

Soi felt so tense now that Yoruichi was sure that hugging an iron girder would provide her with more comfort. She rubbed her thumb slowly over the back of Soi's hand, hoping to calm the irate girl down before she decided to kill Rangiku. It seemed to be working, bit by bit she could feel the tension leaving Soi's body.

"What are you guys doing hanging round the entrance anyway?" Rangiku asked. Her eyes flickered over Yoruichi and widened. "You took your hair thingy out! Why? That took me hours to put in."

"I know, I was there," Yoruichi replied. She released her hold on Soi and lifted her hands to her hair, running her slim fingers through the long and now thankfully loose, locks. "It was heavy and uncomfortable; I took it out at the Second bar when we changed into slightly more comfortable clothes. Well, except for Kuukaku, she didn't bother changing." It was nice to be out of that ridiculous dress as well. The one she had in now was much more comfortable and much closer to her own style.

Rangiku turned to Kuukaku. "Bet you didn't wear a formal dress anyways."

"Hell no!" Kuukaku said. "I would'a worn formal wear if we'd gone with Kimonos like last year, but her highness here decided to go for a more western look. I hate those fancy pants dresses."

Rangiku nodded along. "Fair enough. Are you guys gonna come in then? We spent an absolute fortune decorating the place."

"I can see," Yoruichi smiled, she took hold of Soi's hand and gripped it. "It's hardly practical though is it? It's freezing in here."

"It's warmer inside," Rangiku explained. The entrance way needed to be kept cold, but the main bars not too bad. Oh!" She exclaimed suddenly. "Have you seen my sculpture?"

_Oh no..._

Yoruichi could feel her face shifting into an expression of banality as Rangiku lead them over one of the many ice statues, enthusiastically waving her hands as she did so. The last sculpture in the line was that of a naked woman, standing proudly displayed, her arms lifted in a gesture of calm assurance. Yoruichi felt a smile tug at her lips as she recognised the statue.

"Rangiku-San, you look resplendent!" Kisuke enthused eyeing the stature with a gleeful smile. "Did you pose for it?"

"Of course I did!" Rangiku replied looking slightly affronted that he'd think any different.

"Dare ya to lick it," Kuukaku grinned at Yoruichi.

"Hmm," Yoruichi leaned in closer to the statue her tongue slipping between her lips as she ever so slowly inched her way closer to the stature. There was a thin crack running up the torso of the sculpture, from belly button right up between the huge ice breasts.

_Right over her heart, _Yoruichi thought. She was inches from it now and could feel the cold issuing from it.

"If you get stuck to it, I'm not going to help you," Soi told her in a cold voice.

Yoruichi straightened up, a smile etched up her face, she turned to Soi. "Spoilsport," she said with a laughing wink. She grabbed Soi's hand again and pulled her in closer. "Come on, let's go see how much colder it is in the actual bar."

/\/\/\

The layout of the Tenth bar was different to the other bars of the Gotei 13 in that for all extents and purposes, it was a basement bar. The entrance led out onto a walkway that overlooked the actual bar. Yoruichi had always felt that there was certain snobbery to the walkway, the people who chose to spend their night up there would often lean over the railing and lord it over the little people secured beneath them. It made her think of a Roman Coliseum, perhaps though that was too grand, an old fighting pit instead, with the rich and affluent above, and the peasants below in the pit. She supposed that the proper place for her was to stand was above on the walkway, that she should have been one of those gripping the railing and casting a derisive eye down below.

Her eyes glanced along those who had chosen to stand above and a slow bemused smile twitched at her face. She would never understand those who chose to stand up there, isolated from the rest of the world. Her hand found Soi's and she gave it a quick squeeze.

"Something wrong?" Soi asked turning to her, her voice raised slightly so that she could be heard over the collective din of people and music.

They were sat down now, beneath the colossal ice sculpture that was suspended from the ceiling above them; turned out that it was a dragon though parts of it had started to melt giving the impression that it was weeping. Yoruichi shifted round in her seat, leaning her right elbow on the table and her chin on her hand, facing Soi, a smile curving up her face.

"Nope," She said. "Just thinking."

"That would explain the burning smell," Soi replied.

"You're hilarious," Yoruichi said. She was still smiling though. "Enjoying the night so far?"

Soi shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, it could have been worse."

A small laugh escaped from Yoruichi's lips. "It could have been worse?" She repeated. "So you're not enjoying yourself?"

"It's not that I'm not enjoying myself, it's just that this isn't really my thing. It's alright when we're sitting in one of the bars, but when we get up to go to the next one we have to go past all the idiots crowded round outside taking pictures and stuff. Besides," her eyes brightened slightly. "It's not really about whether I'm enjoying myself, it's your birthday. Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Course I am," Yoruichi grinned. _You're here_

She kept hold of Soi's hand and her eyes locked on those stormy greys, a smile crept up Yoruichi's face encouraged by the mirrored smile on Soi's. It evoked an odd feeling in her; she felt light and warm, and there was a strange pressure in her chest that wasn't at all unpleasant.

Yoruichi was pulled from her musings by the feel of a strong hand on her shoulder. She turned to her left, her head tilting up so that she could see who it was.

"Kaien," she greeted warmly. "What can I do for you?"

He turned to Soi, a smile gracing his face. "Mind if I borrow her for a moment, Shaolin-San?"

Soi's eyes flickered to Yoruichi momentarily. The Goddess could see the briefest hint of annoyance there, but Soi didn't act upon it. "Sure," she replied.

"Good stuff," he grinned. "Let's go, Shihouin."

Yoruichi climbed to her feet, her hold on Soi's hand loosening and as she walked away she felt Soi's fingers slip away from her grasp. It left her feeling strangely empty, and Yoruichi mentally chastised herself for feeling, and acting, so needy.

She followed Kaien as he led her away from Soi and her friends and towards the stairs. She was mildly surprised when Kaien grasped her hand in his and held it. She quickened her pace so that she could walk next to him, not liking that it felt an awful lot like he was dragging her somewhere.

"Is something wrong?" She asked. There was a tenseness to his shoulders, and now that she had a good look at his face she could see that his mouth was set in a hard line.

"Yes," he answered. He stopped suddenly at the top of the stairs and cast his eye about before turning to her. "And no."

She raised a brow at his ambiguous answer. "You know you're not making sense, right?"

He sighed and let go of her hand, raking his fingers through his hair. "Has Kuukaku seemed alright to you?"

"Umm, yeah," Yoruichi answered feeling slightly confused. Her gaze turned to the table where her friends were sat; she could see Kuukaku leaning in and talking to Soi, probably annoying the hell out of her. "Maybe a little tired, but then she said she'd been having late nights lately. Why?"

"Could you keep an eye on her?"

Yoruichi felt her stomach drop. "Kaien, you're starting to worry me. What's going on?"

His face seemed to crumple slightly and he looked away for a moment. "I've had some bad news."

/\/\/\

The ice dragon had looked impressive upon first sight, but now that he had taken the time to give it his full critical appraisal, Love had decided that it was a very bad idea. An impressively bad idea.

"What if it falls?" He wondered aloud. He was slumped across one the many couches that adorned the Tenth bar, his legs hooked over the arm rest and his feet swinging in time to the music. His head was resting comfortably in the lap of some young lady he had somehow convinced to sit with him and Rose, her two friends were here as well, both crowding round Rose who didn't seem at all perturbed by the attention.

"It won't," Rose assured looking up at the ice sculpture. "It'll take days to melt to that point. Although, it may drip on a few people."

"Suppose that'll be half the fun," Love shifted himself into a sitting position. Across the bar he could see Yoruichi and her group of friends crowded round a table, all looking surprisingly sober. He had been fully prepared for them all to be completely wasted; Yoruichi and Shiba Kuukaku were hardly known for their sobriety. He squinted as he tried to add names to all those who were with her; he knew the two Shiba's (who didn't?), could make out Urahara Kisuke which wasn't at all surprising, and Kuchiki Rukia seemed to be with them though her brother was thankfully absent. "The little girl..."

"That's the girlfriend," Rose answered. "Forgotten her name though."

"Ah, okay," He turned away from them. He didn't know why he was bothering to keep track of Yoruichi, his and Rose's shift had ended when they'd left the Ninth bar. Shinji was supposed to be covering from the Tenth onwards. The only reason Love was here was because it as New Year, and he'd be damned if he was going to be spending it alone and miserable. Hence the loving company of the young woman next to him. He turned to face the young lady in question only to find her standing up on the couch and staring over at Yoruichi. Wonderful, he'd just pulled another Shihouin fan girl.

"Whaddya mean girlfriend?" She screeched. "Shihouin has a girlfriend?"

"Well yeah," Love said. "Didn't everyone know that?" He looked up to his choice in company, a little tomboyish for his usual tastes, and very annoying, but then he was a little drunk and had quite liked that she had different coloured eyes. Although he was starting to wonder what the chances of him being able to track down Matsumoto Rangiku were.

"I didn't know that!"

"Sit down, Apache," One of the young ladies that were sitting with Rose said. She had her hand up near her mouth, a long sleeve swung carelessly as she moved her arm. "It hardly matters."

"But-"

"Sit down," she repeated.

Gritting her teeth, Apache sat back down. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest and she looked very much like she was in the huff. Love looked away and over to where Yoruichi was sitting, he couldn't see her anymore though. Shrugging he looked back to Rose, who had a bored expression on his long face.

"We should leave," the second lady sitting next to Rose said suddenly. "Harribel-Sama will be wondering where we are."

"Tch!" Apache stood up quickly. "Fine with me! These two are boring anyways." She flounced off.

The other two stood up as well, although they excused themselves and managed to walk away in a more normal fashion then their friend. Love was glad to see the back of them; he let out a long sigh.

"Where is Shinji?"

"Don't know," Rose replied. "It hardly matters. Nothing is going to happen."

"Guess not," Love reached into his pocket. "Another drink?" He frowned in confusion upon finding his pocket empty. He slipped his hand into his other pocket only to find it empty as well. "Damn!" He said slowly sinking back down into the couch. "That bitch stole my wallet."

It really wasn't shaping up to be his night.

/\/\/\

Yoruichi felt her arms start to ache from the hard wood of the railing beneath them and the weight of her own body as she continued to lean on them. She raised her cigarette to her lips, thankful to Kaien for bringing them with him, since she really needed this right now. She could feel Kaien's presence next to her, leaning on the railing in an imitation of her own pose minus the cigarette. She let out a long stream of smoke and tilted her head to look at him.

"When are you going to tell Kuukaku?" She asked.

"I'll wait until I know more," he answered. "I don't want her to worry."

"She'll worry anyways," Yoruichi rubbed at her forehead with her thumb. "She'll never admit it, but worrying is what she does best. Well, apart from blowing stuff up." She paused and tried to catch his eye. "You are going to tell her, right?"

"Of course," he turned to her and smiled. "I've got time yet. You're the first I've told though."

"Yeah, thanks for that. It made for a wonderful birthday present."

"It's not your birthday yet," he checked his watch. "You've got nearly a full half hour to go."

"Wonderful."

"And then you'll be an old maid!" He laughed lightly. "Well, not a maid. I think you need to be a virgin to earn that title."

"So I'm just a Christmas cake then," she smiled at him.

"Guess so. Now no one will want to marry you," he laughed again. "That's not true either though. She'd marry you, silly girl." He pointed down towards the table.

Yoruichi followed the line of his finger to the table her eyes falling on Soi. "Yeah, silly girl," she murmured in agreement. "Do you think I'm selfish?" She asked suddenly.

"Yes," he answered far too quickly for Yoruichi's taste. It surprised her that it actually stung to hear him say that. He sighed. "But then we're all selfish, Shihouin."

"Stop calling me by my surname, it creeps me out."

He ignored her. "Look at me, I'm selfish. I just dumped all my woes onto you and I'm expecting you to be the one to sort it all out for me." He scratched at his head. "Now that's selfish."

Taking another drag of her cigarette she let the wash of tobacco and nicotine sooth her and then she tried to sort out in her head what Kaien had just told her. Her eyes trailed down to where Kuukaku was sitting; Kisuke was next to her his blonde hair ruffled more than usual, or perhaps it was just because it wasn't squashed beneath his hat. Kuukaku was leaning over towards Soi, she seemed to be yelling at her which made Yoruichi frown; Soi was yelling back and seemed to be getting angrier by the second.

"Look at you," Kaien murmured.

Yoruichi turned to him. "Look at me? Why? Do I have something on my face?"

He was smiling warmly at her. "Looking at Shaolin?"

"Just checking up on her," Yoruichi replied. "You know you can call her Soi."

"I like Shaolin better, it suits her," He reached over and took the cigarette from Yoruichi; pinching it with his thumb and finger. Yoruichi was surprised when he took a long drag form it.

"Since when did you smoke?" She asked.

"I don't," he replied coughing slightly. "But I don't think it'll really matter in the long run if I start." He held it out to her.

"Guess not," she took it from him and brought it back to her own lips.

"So, when you going to tell Shaolin you love her?"

Yoruichi choked. She felt the smoke burn the back of her throat and she bent double, coughing. She could hear Kaien chuckling behind her. She straightened up; still coughing but she had it more or less under control now. She turned to Kaien.

"Excuse me?" Her voice sounded several octaves higher than normal.

"Because you do, don't you?" He had a shit eating grin plastered up his face.

She forced a laugh; it sounded too high and was bordering on hysterical. "Love? I don't, I'm not..." She swallowed and ran her hand through her hair. "What makes you say that?"

He shook his head, his smile looking more indulgent now. "I didn't believe Kuukaku at first when she told me, but after your less than subtle performance tonight..." He trailed off.

"What did Kuukaku tell you?"

"You know you reach for her, Shaolin that is, almost constantly," He leaned against the railing still giving that indulgent smile that made her feel on edge. "You light up when you're with her; you smile like I've never seen before. More importantly, there's a peace about you when she's near you. So why don't you cut the bullshit and just tell her?"

She was shaking, and not from the cold, she exhaled a long shuddered breath and licked her lips, swallowing. "I'm not in-"

"She'll not wait forever," he cut in.

She felt suddenly afraid. She clenched her fists, her arms trembling as she tried to get her emotions back under control. Why did she feel terrified by Kaien's words? She didn't want to believe them, didn't want to believe whatever truth there might be to them.

She felt a sudden weight atop her head causing her to look up. Kaien's hand was lying flat on her head, a small smile playing upon his lips.

"Now isn't that something," he murmured. "I don't think in all the years I've known you I've ever seen you show so much emotion. You look like you're gonna cry."

She sucked in a sharp breath and stepped back from him, his hand fell from her head. She opened her mouth not really sure what she was planning on saying, but wanting to say something, anything; she felt like she was fast losing an argument.

"If there's one thing I've recently learned," he continued. "It's that we shouldn't take these things for granted. If you have something like this," He raised his hand, clenched into a fist, and tapped it against her chest over her heart. "And something like that." His head turned and he looked pointedly over the railing and down to Soi. "Then you should hold onto it as hard as you can and never let it go. After all, forever is just a myth. No one has forever."

"Stop talking like you're dying!" She cried knocking his hand away.

"We're all dying, Shihouin. It's one of the few things in life that can be guaranteed."

"I'm-"

"Scared?"

"No!"

"Liar," he laughed. "You're terrified, look at you! You're shaking."

"It's cold," she retorted. She looked away from him; her arms snaked around her body as she tried to stop herself from trembling. "Kaien... I can't do this."

"Yeah you can," His voice was soft.

"No I can't," She pressed her face in her hands and took a few shaky breaths. "I did something awful."

"I know. You need to tell her," He sounded too patient, too indulging. It wasn't what she wanted to hear. "Talk to her tomorrow and tell her everything. Don't go ruining tonight."

"You don't understand, I-"

"Cheated on her? I know."

Now she felt like bursting into tears. It took every ounce of self control that she possessed not to start crying right then and there. If she started she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop.

"She'll leave me."

"Possibly," he said. "But she deserves to know. She loves you. She'll find a way to forgive you. But you do have to tell her, it'll come out eventually and it'll be better if she hears it from you."

He was right, and she hated him for it.

She hated herself more.

Kaien sighed and moved closer to her. "Go and enjoy the rest of the night, it is your birthday after all," She felt his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for listening to me. Happy birthday, Yoruichi-San."

His hand slipped from her shoulder and she knew that he had left her here.

/\/\/\

Soi edged away from Kuukaku. Annoying didn't even come close to describing the Shiba woman tonight. But then the feeling of being annoyed was something she was fast becoming used to; Urahara was being his usual childish self, Kuukaku was loud and brash, Rukia wasn't as annoying as the others but still managed to irritate Soi with her mere presence, and Kaien had stolen Yoruichi. Right now; Soi hated him the most.

She looked to her watch; six minutes to midnight.

_Yoruichi..?_

In the last few minutes the excitement in the room had doubled, everyone seemed to be acting like a child. The dance floor was jam packed, people were standing on the tables; you'd think they'd never experienced New Year before.

_Where is she?_

Soi was starting to feel antsy. Yoruichi wouldn't miss the turn of the New Year, would she? Soi looked up in time to see Kaien return, he gave her a smile, right before he grabbed Kuukaku hand and dragged her off somewhere. Urahara watched them leave with a slightly amused smile to his face. Then where was Yoruichi?

She stood up and looked around her. Seeing only random people who had held no meaning to her she went to sit back down, a hand on the small of her back stopped her. She turned.

"Yoruichi," she smiled. "I thought you'd gone off somewhere." _I thought you'd left me behind again_

Yoruichi shook her head. There was an odd troubled look to her that worried Soi. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"No," Yoruichi replied looking down to Soi. "Nothing's wrong." She frowned for a moment. "Well, that's not entirely true, but it doesn't matter. It'll keep for now."

Her words did little to sooth Soi. Yoruichi didn't look well at all; she looked tense and distracted, her eyes weren't as bright as Soi was used to, and her mouth was downturned in the exact opposite of a smile.

"What going on?"

"Would you like to dance?" Yoruichi asked suddenly.

"Wha-?" Soi stared at her. _No! _She hated dancing, she'd never danced in her life, and she really didn't plan on starting; especially with so many people to watch her make a fool of herself.

"Come on," Yoruichi grabbed Soi's hand and dragged her towards the dance floor.

"Wait! Yoruichi!" Soi tried to pull her hand from the Goddess's grip, but Yoruichi had a firm hold. "I don't want..." She trailed off when she realised that she was already on the dance floor. She could feel it already, that awful claustrophobic feel of people pressed in around her. There were far, far too many people, too many eyes watching her, waiting for her to make a fool of herself. It was too late though; she'd probably look the bigger fool if she suddenly turned tail and fled.

She felt Yoruichi press in close to her, her lips near her ear. "Stop panicking," she whispered; her voice soothing. "You are absolutely fine." She took hold of Soi's hands and placed them on her own hips, and then Yoruichi slid her hands over Soi's shoulders, gently squeezing them in reassurance.

Soi couldn't even hear the music. All she could hear was the thrum of her own heart, beating far too fast after being dragged out of her comfort zone. She looked up to Yoruichi, locked her eyes on those golden orbs and possibly she felt her heart skip a beat or two.

"... Yoruichi..."

Yoruichi's fingers trailed slowly up the back of Soi's neck making her shiver. Soi felt herself pressing closer to Yoruichi, her arm slipped round to the small of Yoruichi's back and pulled her even closer. She realised that they were moving; slowly, a soft sway and small steps. She still couldn't hear the music, or the people surrounding them, or anything other than her own heart. She had no idea if they were moving in time to the music, and she found that it didn't matter, that she didn't care. All that mattered was that she was here, that Yoruichi was here, and that they were together.

And then it was over.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Yoruichi smiled down at her.

"Guess not," Soi replied.

"I'll have you tangoing next."

"Not a chance," Soi said with a smile.

Yoruichi laughed and pressed her forehead against Soi's, her fingers traced down Soi's cheek. She almost seemed to be trembling, her eyes closed briefly and she swallowed. "Soi..."

"Yes?"

"I..."

A roar from the crowd stopped her from continuing, they both looked up. A small nervous laugh escaped Soi as she realised what all the noise was about. The countdown to New Year had started. She turned back to Yoruichi; she looked slightly disappointed, but was smiling all the same.

Yoruichi turned to face her, her hand going to cup Soi's cheek. The loud chanted counting from the crowd faded back into the background as they pressed in close together, their lips meeting for a brief kiss.

"Happy New Year," Yoruichi whispered to her as the crowd broke out in ecstatic cheers around them.

Soi laughed; it was snowing, real white and very cold snow showered down upon them.

"Happy birthday," she replied pulling Yoruichi in for another kiss.

* * *

**Kaien is some sort of advice giving machine! I think I love him... just a little.**

**As always; thanks for all the reviews and support so far.**

**Because I'm a complete whore for reviews, please leave one. And also, cause it's just a nice thing to do – they make me smile!**


	18. A Toast to Broken Glass

A Toast to Broken Glass

The ice in his drink had long since melted. Shinji sighed; the best part of his drink being on the rocks was fishing out an ice cube and crunching it between his teeth. Now his slightly diluted whisky hardly seemed worth the effort.

Another sigh escaped his lips, and he grasped the glass and brought it to his mouth. Tilting it back, he downed the contents in a single gulp; a satisfying warmth scouring down his throat. He slammed the glass down on the bar top and looked about for someone to refill it, but found that all the staff was too busy to pay him any heed. His finger traced round the rim of the now empty glass, coming to a rest after making two full circles. A third, much louder, sigh left him as he tipped the glass back and forth with his finger tip.

It was a few hours past midnight, the Thirteenth bar, which was where he was sat, was still jam packed full of drunken revellers. None of them paid any attention to him as he morosely cradled his empty glass in his hand.

From the corner of his eye he saw a figure sit down on the vacant bar stool to his left. Shinji paid the figure no further heed though, preferring to glare at his empty glass as if he could find the answers to all his worries at the bottom of it. He heard the slow rumble of an object sliding across the smooth bar top, and a half full bottle clinked into his glass. He raised an eyebrow at the bottle; whisky – just what he needed. He poured himself a healthy measure and then, without even looking, slid the bottle to his left and back towards the kind stranger. He heard the liquor slosh in the bottle as it came to a standstill, stopped by a sure hand. Shinji turned, lifting his glass to toast to the stranger.

Only it wasn't a stranger sat there.

He felt his face fall and twist into an expression of extreme annoyance.

"So a horse walks into a bar, and the barman says 'why the long face'?"

"Urgh!" Shinji's head fell forward, his chin bouncing off of his chest. "What do _you _want?"

A hurt expression flittered across Urahara's face but Shinji knew better than to pay it any heed.

"You sound as though you're not happy to see me?" Urahara lamented.

"I'm never happy to see you," Shinji replied. The man was more trouble than he was worth, and Shinji had enough troubles to last him several lifetimes. "What do you want?"

"Heh," Urahara spun on his stool and faced the bar, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He poured himself a measure of whisky and picked the glass up, his keen gaze inspecting it. He turned the glass slowly, letting the lights from the bar reflect from it. "I just came over to say hello."

Shinji smiled. "Now you've piqued my curiosity. When have you ever just wanted to say hello?"

Sipping his drink, Urahara grimaced. "Bleurgh!" He exclaimed placing the glass down. "That's foul. Don't know how you can drink it."

He leant his elbows on the bar top and laced his fingers together, resting his chin on his hands; a mockery, Shinji noticed, of a man praying.

"The real question is; why are _you_ here?" Urahara said softly.

Shinji shrugged. "Working," he kicked at the case set next to his feet, it contained his saxophone. "I played them through New Year. Y'know, since Shiba was off doing who knows what, he couldn't."

Urahara didn't say anything. Shinji watched him from the corner of his eye; he was dressed in a dark green shirt that would have been smart had he taken the time to iron it. The top three buttons were undone and he had failed to tuck it in properly, folds of fabric hung loosely over the waistline of his trousers. Shinji wondered if Urahara had started out the night looking smart and had just degraded as the hours wore on, or if he had left the house dressed like a vagrant bum.

Personally, Shinji preferred to dress smartly. His own shirt, a deep blue tonight, was neatly ironed and fit his thin frame perfectly, There was not a single crease in the fabric and the buttons were done up securely to his neck. His hair was meticulously styled; he'd only just had it cut the other day. He eyed Urahara's unruly mane, usually kept underneath his ridiculous hat – it seemed to be enjoying its brief freedom, frizzing out at all angles.

Sighing, Shinji returned his attention to his drink, noting to himself that it could do with some ice.

"Did I see Aikawa Love and Otoribashi Rojuro earlier?"

"I dunno, did you?"

The smile was tugging at Urahara's mouth again. "They never seemed to be far away," He cocked his head to the side and stared at his drink as though he was puzzled by it. "Yadomaru was at the First bar, but that's to be expected since she's Yoruichi's assistant. Love and Rojuro seem to have been with us since the Second."

Shinji mentally cursed Love and Rose for being morons. "You saying that they're not allowed to enjoy New Year?"

"Of course not, everyone should celebrate New Year!" Urahara looked at Shinji in exaggerated shock. "It is, after all, my birthday!"

"I forgot," Shinji lied. He ground his teeth together in annoyance. The problem with Urahara Kisuke wasn't in what he said, but in what he didn't. Shinji was no good at reading between the lines; he hated these head games, and was fervently wishing that Yadomaru was here. She hated these kinds of games as well, but at least she was good at them.

"At the Eleventh bar," Urahara continued. "Muguruma Kensei made an appearance. I can only assume that Kuna Mashiro was nearby. Those two are rarely far apart."

"What's your point?"

Urahara spun around on his stool, his back now to the bar. He leaned back and rested his elbows on the bar top; he nodded out towards the room.

Shinji turned in his stool; across the room and through a gap in the crowd he could see the unmistakable figure of Shihouin Yoruichi, the very woman he was here to watch.

"Ah, Yoruichi-San," he murmured dreamily. "She was my first-"

"Love? You didn't stand a chance with her," Urahara sounded entirely too pleased with himself

"I might have done if you hadn't turned her gay," Shinji muttered under his breath. In a normal tone he said, "What about her?"

Urahara slowly turned his head to face him. "You're being paid to watch her, aren't you?"

Shinji didn't react. He kept his face perfectly neutral, even if his stomach had dropped and was now residing uncomfortably near his lower bowls. The important thing here was to play it cool.

"How the hell do you know that?" He demanded, swivelling in his stool to face Urahara, his voice screeching.

Urahara laughed softly to himself. "I have my ways," he said. "I'm going to assume that we have a common interest here and help you out a bit. Do you see those three gentlemen sitting near the stage?"

Shinji looked over to the stage, a few hours earlier he had been standing on it while everyone else had danced their way into the New Year. He pulled a face as his eyes landed on the men Urahara was talking about. They were fairly hard to miss; one of them might have been the biggest man Shinji had ever laid eyes one – and he had seen some fairly big guys. The other two were taller than average but not remarkably, one seemed to be quite twitchy and shied away from people near him, the other was wearing a shirt that was at least a size too small for him emphasising his admittedly impressive physique, though it was the shock of blue hair that made him stand out from the crowd.

"Yeah, I do. What about them?"

"Keep your eye on them," Urahara hopped down from his stool. "Well, I certainly hope you have a pleasant evening." He tipped his imaginary hat to Shinji and then sauntered away, heading in the direction of Yoruichi.

Shinji exhaled. He had been holding his breath the entire time that Urahara was speaking to him. He turned back to the bar and reached for his drink, downing the contents in two swift gulps, before refilling the glass. This time he sipped the contents; it wouldn't do him any good to be inebriated, he would need to stay sharp tonight, focussed.

His teeth bit the rim of the glass as he thought over what Urahara had said. Placing the glass back down on the bar, he turned his head to take another look at the three young men. The blue haired one was standing a bit off from the other two as though he didn't want to be associated with them, his gaze directed towards Yoruichi's group and a sneer twisted his features.

Shinji turned back to his drink and gripped the glass. His thumb brushed across the rim and he frowned as he felt a notch in the otherwise smooth glass. Peering down he could see a thin crack running down from the rim to the thick base. He traced the imperfection with his thumb down to the base of the glass and then back up again, pressing the digit hard against the sharp chip until he felt it bite into his flesh. He withdrew his thumb and inspected it; a spot of blood bloomed from his newest injury.

"Just as I figured," He muttered before downing the whisky in a single gulp. It was going to be an interesting night.

/\/\/\

It was, thankfully, quieter here than it was at either the Eleventh or Twelfth bar. Though that might have been because it had just gone three in the morning, and most people were either already home or were heading that way; only a determined few were still dancing to the softly playing music. It was at least warmer here in the Thirteenth bar than it had been in the Tenth. Soi had gladly discarded her coat when she'd entered, and she couldn't help but feel thankful that Yoruichi had also lost hers. Soi's eyes trailed up the Goddess's body, the dress she had changed into at the Second bar was a much neater fit. The thin material clung perfectly to Yoruichi's curves, showing a modest amount of cleavage and a lot of leg. Soi couldn't help but let her gaze linger on those perfect legs.

She dragged her eyes away from Yoruichi. They were standing around a table, everyone looking a little tired now as the long night started to take effect. Urahara had wandered off somewhere, as had Kaien muttering some excuse about going to speak with Ukitake. They had lost Rukia at the Eleventh bar, the younger girl preferring to stay with Ichigo there than continue on with them. Soi suspected that the only reason that Rukia had decided to stay with them was so that she could meet up with Ichigo without Byakuya knowing. She hadn't bothered to raise the point with Yoruichi; chances were that she had already figured that out. Chances were that Yoruichi had implanted the idea in Rukia's mind.

Looking to Yoruichi, Soi felt her heart flutter slightly at the morose expression on her face. She had been like this since they had left the Tenth bar, and Soi wasn't at all sure what she should do. She couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong. Her mind drifted back their dance, they had only managed the one before they had decided to leave the Tenth bar and head onto the Eleventh, where Yoruichi had seemed distracted and unusually quiet. Her mood had remained thus since; and not even at the Twelfth bar where Nemu had waited on them hand and foot personally for the duration of their stay had perked Yoruichi up. Soi knew that Yoruichi would usually take advantage of Nemu's subservient attitude and make outrageous demands of the girl.

Slowly, Soi edged herself closer to Yoruichi and brushed her fingertips against the back of her girlfriend's hand. Yoruichi jumped, her head snapping towards Soi.

"You scared me," She said her hand going to her heart, and she laughed nervously her eyes sliding to the side.

Soi's eye narrowed in annoyance; since when did Yoruichi let anyone shock her like that?

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" she asked bluntly. She could hear the subdued anger in her own voice, though she was unsure who she was actually angry with.

Yoruichi had clearly picked up on the anger as well. She looked at Soi in surprise. "Wrong?" She repeated. "It's hard to explain."

She was avoiding answering the question, which only made Soi feel even angrier. Yoruichi only ever acted like this when she had done something wrong.

"Try me," Soi crossed her arms in front of her, vaguely aware that Yoruichi probably didn't deserve to feel the wrath of her irk, especially since it was the heiress' birthday.

"And that's my cue to leave," Kuukaku announced slamming her beer down on the table. "I'm gonna go find Kisuke. I'll see you dykes later!" She gave them both an exaggerated salute and then turned on her heel and marched away. Soi was sure she could hear the infuriating woman guffawing as she went.

Silence followed Kuukaku's departure and her borderline offensive choice in words. Nothing new there, she was always trying to push someone's buttons. Soi turned back to Yoruichi; she had an unreadable expression on her face.

"Y'know, some days I hate her," Yoruichi said finally, frowning slightly.

"Most days I hate her," Soi replied feeling a smirk slide up her face.

"I know," Yoruichi grinned at her. "Look, I'm sorry I'm being weird. I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment."

"Well, tell me about it."

"Sorry, it's not my secret to tell," Yoruichi said. She turned away from Soi a troubled expression on her face.

Soi wasn't stupid. She knew that it was something to do with Kaien. She decided not to push Yoruichi on the subject though, even if she did think that there was more to it than whatever Kaien had said. Yoruichi had a really bad habit of keeping things to herself, but Soi knew that pushing her on the matter would only cause her to bottle things up even more.

She turned away from Yoruichi, not wanting her to see how much this was bothering her. Besides, she could hardly fault Yoruichi on keeping secrets since she was guilty of it as well; and Yoruichi did look like she really wanted to tell Soi whatever it was.

Soi felt Yoruichi's fingers brush over her hand, and she turned her head to face Yoruichi.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked, her tone was nervous, and though she kept a smile on her face Soi could see the worry reflected in her eyes.

Soi shook her head. "No, I'm not mad at you."

"Good," the smile brightened and reached her eyes. She gave Soi's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I know that it's selfish of me, but can we just enjoy the rest of the night? I'll try and explain everything tomorrow, but for now, I just want to relax and enjoy the moment."

Something was clearly very wrong. Soi could feel dread settling over her, smothering her very being. She swallowed; her throat felt raw and her mouth had gone suddenly very dry. If Yoruichi had meant her words to be comforting at all, then she had missed the mark by a wide margin. Soi's apprehension over the older woman's odd behaviour had now escalated into outright fear.

"Sure," She managed to say, her voice sounding slightly hoarse. "Just, should I be worried?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "You'll worry no matter what I say. Feel free to go nuts with it."

Soi couldn't help it, she laughed. "Go nuts? Well, thank you for the permission to go insane, it's much appreciated."

"No problem," She grinned at her.

For a few minutes they remained in a companionable silence. Soi managed to refrain from giving into her urge to wrap herself around Yoruichi – an urge she usually had no problems in controlling. She wasn't one for displays of public affection, as far as she was concerned any kind of affection between them was for them only and not for an audiences benefit.

_Still..._

She worked her hand into Yoruichi's, only slightly larger than her own, though much more elegant she noted, and gripped it. She found herself moving closer into Yoruichi, pressing herself sidelong against Yoruichi's body. She thought she heard Yoruichi sigh, perhaps she shivered, but Soi couldn't be sure.

Another few minutes passed, and Soi suppressed all the fear that were running wild through her mind, her consciousness filled only instead with the warmth that Yoruichi supplied.

Eventually, reluctantly, she broke the comfortable silence. "I'm going to have to go soon."

Yoruichi groaned. "Really?"

"I have work in the morning," Soi said. She had explained all this to Yoruichi earlier in the day, but she had a feeling that Yoruichi had chosen to ignore her. "The only reason I got tonight off was because I agreed to work all of tomorrow."

"Pull a sickie," Yoruichi suggested. She was pressing closer into Soi, her arms moving around Soi's small waist; gripping her securely and holding her close.

"I can't," Soi's voice was laced with regret. "I'd lose my job if I did that."

"So?"

"I need the money."

"Pfft!" A smile curled up Yoruichi's face and she lowered herself (even taller tonight thanks to the aid of heels) so that she could press her forehead against Soi's. "Whatever for?"

"Well, rent for a start," Soi replied, she usually felt angry when Yoruichi started bemoaning Soi's need to work, but she was too happy to hear the playful tone return to Yoruichi's voice to care.

"Rent, schment!" Yoruichi declared. She threw her head back and grinned, or did she sneer? It was strangely reminiscent of Kuukaku. "Just don't pay it."

"Funnily enough, I need to pay my rent."

"You could just move in with me."

Silence greeted Yoruichi's suggestion. They both had their eyes locked on one another, Yoruichi felt suddenly tense in Soi's arms and there was the faintest glimmer of hesitancy in her golden eyes. It wasn't the first time that Yoruichi had suggested it, and it probably wouldn't be the last; but unlike all the other times where Soi had shot the Goddess down dead, this time she was half tempted to agree. After all, if they continued down the path they were going they'd end up living together eventually, right?

So why not?

Yoruichi's brow furrowed and her eyes took on a distinctly worried look, as though she was apprehensive that she had overstepped the mark.

"Sorry," Yoruichi said before Soi could answer her impromptu question. She dropped her arms from around Soi and stepped back, rubbing at the back of her neck. "That was stupid of me. I know that we're not... Well... Y'know..." She trailed off cringing slightly.

Soi swallowed down her answer and forced a smile. "Doesn't matter," She said, and then cleared her throat. "How about we have another drink, and then I really do have to go."

"Sounds good," A genuine smile lit up Yoruichi's features, and she reached out her hand to Soi, which Soi gladly took.

Not quite the complete reassurance that Soi had wanted from Yoruichi, but for now it would have to do.

/\/\/\

Grimmjow clutched the cool bottle of beer in one hand, running his free hand through his hair. He exhaled sharply through his teeth, more of a grunt really, but he didn't really give a shit if his present company thought it was for their benefit. He was leaning back in his seat with his feet up on the table; he cut the very picture of relaxation, unlike his two 'companions' for the night. Yammy was sitting with his face clenched tightly, looking like he was trying to take a shit; and Aaroniero was huddled up muttering to himself.

"What is with you two?" Grimmjow demanded, he took a swig from his bottle and tilted his chair back on two legs. "Go get a drink or summat!"

"We're here to work," Aaroniero muttered. He raised his head and locked his eyes on Grimmjow. "Aizen-Sama trusted us with-"

"Like fuck did he!" Grimmjow growled. "Only reason we're here is 'cause no one else wanted to do it."

The only reason Grimmjow was here was to take another crack at that Shihouin bitch. His eyes flickered up and over the room eventually settling on Shihouin Yoruichi. She looked quite relaxed holding a drink in one hand while talking to a slightly shorter girl with dark hair.

"Tch!" Grimmjow tossed his head the side, his lip curling.

"When are we going to grab her?" Yammy demanded.

"There are too many people, too many witnesses," Aaroniero seemed determined to try to be the sensible one tonight. "We should wait until she's on her own."

"Fat fuckin' chance of that happenin'!" Grimmjow swung his legs from the table, his chair landing back on four legs with a loud thud. "She's always gonna be surrounded by people. I say we just grab her." And wasn't half the point for there to be witnesses? He flexed his arm, his left and damaged arm, sending ripples of pain up the offending limb. "I'll grab her, you two hold everyone else back."

Aaroniero licked his teeth, his lips curled back as his eyes darted from Grimmjow to Yammy and back to Grimmjow. "No," He said, shaking his head emphatically. "No, that won't work." He licked his teeth again.

Grimmjow didn't really care if it worked, so long as he repaid her for what she had done. She'd resist, he knew that she would resist, and then he'd have to use force. He grinned at the thought, his leg bouncing on the floor drumming out a fast tattoo. He could feel the excitement, the thrill of knowing that he was in for a good fight. His eyes locked back on the woman, she was undoubtedly beautiful but not his type at all. As far as he was concerned, girls like her were a dime a fuckin' dozen. She just happened to be a shinier dime than all the others.

"Fine," Grimmjow eventually conceded, turning his head back to the other two. "What do you two suggest?"

Yammy didn't offer anything, which wasn't surprising at all, while Aaroniero licked his teeth a lot and stuttered out a few barely comprehensible ideas. A right pair of geniuses those two; the idiot and the insane. Grimmjow was starting to suspect that Aizen picked these two to guarantee that they failed.

Grimmjow slammed down his now empty bottle, jumped to his feet and scanned the room. He couldn't see Yoruichi anymore; she had left while he had been pretending to listen to Aaroniero. He bared his teeth in annoyance and looked about the room. It was well over half-empty, and he recognised several of the occupants. By the bar he could make out the orange gleam that was Kurosaki Ichigo, which made him grin since Ichigo was one of his favourites to pick a fight with, and if he was here it meant that the Kuchiki girl would be here as well. He owed her as well, if only to teach her what happened to girlies who thought they could touch him.

And then his eyes caught on a very interesting sight; Shihouin Yoruichi exiting the bar.

Aaroniero climbed slowly to his feet and turned his head following Grimmjow's line of sight. "She's leaving," he said, his eyes bugging out. "We have to-"

"I got her!" Grimmow growled. "You two wait here. Better yet, trash the place."

There was a faint sheen of sweat to Aaroniero's face as he considered this. "A ... distraction?"

"Yeah sure, whatever," Grimmjow shoved Aaroniero out of his path. "Cause a ruckus of summat! This place won't know what hit em!" He yelled back over his shoulder as he hurried after Yoruichi. He couldn't give a shit what those two did; he could see his target clearly and he was homing in on her.

/\/\/\

With her fingers laced through Soi's, Yoruichi led her down the long corridor that led to the side entrance to the Thirteenth bar. This way Soi would be able to avoid any unwanted attention when she left. They slowed down as they approached the door, and Yoruichi squeezed Soi's hand in her own, she felt a small thrill run through her when Soi returned the gesture.

She stopped and turned to face Soi, a smile fixed on her face. The smile faltered when she saw that Soi was looking away with downcast eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Soi muttered with a shrug.

"Well it must be something," Yoruichi said. She lifted Soi's hand and rubbed her thumb across it.

Soi gently pulled her hand from Yoruichi's hold and turned away, exhaling. "I'm just being stupid," She said with a smile.

It was a small, sad smile and Yoruichi felt something deep inside her crack. Her hand immediately went to Soi's cheek, cupping it gently and lifting her face towards her own, her need to comfort the smaller girl desperate.

"You? Stupid?" She said with a warm smile. "Now that's the effect you're supposed to have on me."

To Yoruichi's relief a small laugh escaped Soi and some of the brightness from earlier in the night returned to her eyes. Soi's eyes slid close and she pressed her face into Yoruichi's hand. After a moment she sighed and lifted her head, moving a little bit away from Yoruichi.

"It's just that, the way you've been acting tonight," She frowned as she continued. "It's strange but, I feel as though I'm losing..."

"Losing?"

Soi swallowed and her eyes flickered up to Yoruichi's. "I feel like I'm losing you."

Yoruichi froze. It was there again, that feeling deep inside her like something was cracking, like she herself was breaking. The back of her throat felt raw and she had to swallow several times before she found her voice.

"Don't be silly, I'm not going anywhere."

The words tasted bitter in her mouth. It was killing her standing there and spouting out lines like that; awful false promises and half-spoken truths. She hated that she had the sheer audacity to stand in front of Soi and offer words of comfort when she knew that she had no right to.

She was going to destroy this girl with her words. And she hated herself for it.

"Good," Soi's voice was soft. "I'm not sure I could cope if I lost you again."

It felt as though a hand was clenching her heart. It was hard to breathe and she felt as though the very air around her was heavy and pressing in around her. Through sheer effort of will Yoruichi managed to keep her expression clear of the tumultuous emotions that were raging inside of her.

Yoruichi forced a smile. She wanted to tell Soi that she would never lose her, that she would never hurt her again, that everything that was her belonged to Soi; and so many other sweet lies. The words were on the tip of her tongue, borne from her need to comfort Soi, to soothe that awful ache that was embedded in her own self.

"Soi, look..." She reached out, the back of her fingers brushing gently across Soi's cheek. "..."

_...I want you, I need you..._

_I'm sorry_

_I..._

"Whoa, careful!" She bellowed in a joking tone. "People might start thinking that this whole angry, icy thing you got goin' on is an act."

It took a moment for the sudden change in tone to register with Soi. Her eyes went wide with shock, and then softened to mild puzzlement, before they took on a slightly more annoyed look. She raised a distinctly unamused eyebrow.

"Icy thing?" She asked.

"Some days you are like the north wind," Yoruichi informed her. She was vaguely aware that she was smiling like there was no tomorrow, her cheeks already aching with the effort.

Soi didn't look amused at all.

"You're so-"

"Charming?"

"I was going to stu-"

"-pendous? I agree!"

Soi's eye twitched. "Are you high?"

_No, just stupid _She thought, but what she said was possibly the worst line she had ever delivered in her life. "High on you."

In the back of her mind she could hear a slow, monotonous round of applause. She had just plumbed the depths of idiocy and come up with a line worthy of Kisuke's deplorable flirtatious wit. At least Kisuke had the sense to deliver the line with a heavy sense of irony. She was still grinning like an idiot.

"Right," Soi said slowly, looking more than a little confused and possibly a bit scared. "We've clearly exhausted the adult conversation, so I'm going home."

Now she just looked hurt.

Yoruichi had to step back a moment unsure of what she should do next. Instinct seemed to take over, and she reached for Soi's hand pulling her back. She kissed her quickly.

"Goodnight," she said in a quiet voice.

Soi looked away. "Yeah," she sounded so depressed. "Night."

She turned to leave, but Yoruichi still had a tight hold of her hand. Soi stared at their hands, her eyes flickering up to Yoruichi's.

_Let go,_ Yoruichi ordered herself. _Let her go._

Yoruichi let go of Soi.

She watched, feeling distanced, as Soi pulled her small pale hand from her own and turned away opening the door. The cold air rushed in through the open door and slapped Yoruichi in the face causing her to wince. Lifting her head; she watched Soi make her way to the car, Komamura already hurrying to open the door for her. It was still snowing. Soi exchanged brief words with the driver, climbed in the car and Komamura shut the door behind her.

"I'm sorry," Yoruichi murmured to the cold air and the snow. "I'm sorry, Soi."

She stepped back, watching the car pull away and drive off. She shut the door, made sure it was secure, and then turned leaning her back against it; burying her face in her hands.

"Fucking idiot!" She seethed, berating her own inability to handle the situation. But then what was she supposed to have done? She couldn't have told Soi what she was really thinking without having to then explain that she had cheated on her; and tonight wasn't the time to have _that _conversation.

When was the time? And when was she supposed to explain the rest of her feelings, before or after she broke the girl's heart?

Her hands fell down to her sides and she leant her head back against the hard wood of the door, and she closed her eyes. It all seemed so very difficult, she wasn't sure that love should have been this difficult, or ... terrifying for that matter. She had never felt so unsure about herself before. She needed time to think, it was the real reason why she hadn't accompanied Soi home rather than her vague excuse of promising Kuukaku and Kisuke that she'd stay out till the bar closed. If she could just sit down and try to sort out her thoughts, try to plan what she was going to say, she was sure that she could come up with the right way to approach the problem.

Scrunching her eyes tight shut she pondered the darker route to take – ignorance was bliss, right? Wasn't it the kinder thing to do, wouldn't she be protecting Soi's feelings by not telling her? After all, who would tell Soi? Not Kaien, and Yoruichi doubted that Kuukaku would either; she wasn't sure who knew after that. And there lay the danger; if Soi found out from a third party the betrayal would be all the worse (though Yoruichi was unsure if anything would lessen the blow) for her lies.

_Coward, _She smiled bitterly at the thought. Cowardice wasn't something she had ever been known for, and she didn't plan on giving into it now. She owed Soi the truth; about her feelings and her betrayal, and then it would be Soi's decision of where to go from there, and Yoruichi would follow her lead.

Even if Soi decided to end it.

Yoruichi was effectively handing all the power to Soi. It was quite a humbling thought for the Goddess, considering she had spent most of the relationship possessively exercising her power over Soi. All the decision had been hers, she had set the pace, and in a twisted way it had been her decision to end it last time – even if it had been Soi who had spoken the words.

She pushed herself away from the door, took a moment to straighten out her dress (the last thing she needed was to walk back in the bar with it hitched around her ass) and set off back up the corridor. Her pace was slow since she was dragging her feet and had her head bowed, as she let her mind wander over what Kaien had said and what she planned on doing.

Perhaps if she had not been so preoccupied with her thoughts and so focused on her own feet she would have seen the figure lunging at her.

/\/\/\

A distraction? It wasn't such a difficult request, it even made sense in a strange impractical kind of way. Still, Yammy would have preferred to have been the one to go after Shihouin Yoruichi, but he knew better than to mess with Grimmjow when he had that look in his eyes. He would still have fun causing the distraction (Aaroniero's idea; Yammy had no idea where the lunatic had gone off to) since there were plenty of people left for him to play with.

Lurching to his feet, he cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck causing his spine to pop in a most satisfying manner. He cast his small eyes over the bar; most had already left, but there was easily enough here to cause a big enough ruckus. He chose his target carefully, taking slow deliberate steps towards them.

Two of the bar staff were standing having an argument not that far from him, a small blonde girl and a taller man with dark hair and a ridiculous goatee. Both were red in the face, and had their fists clenched tightly and were quivering in anger. He could care less what they were arguing about, all he needed them to do was make a lot of noise; and they were already managing that without his aid.

He sidled up next to them and looked down, towering over them both. Slowly they shut up, the girl managing to get the last word in on the argument before she turned to face Yammy.

"Sorry," the guy said. "Was she making too much noise?"

The girl's jaw dropped. "It was you making all the noise, Sentaro!" She yelled.

The guy placed his hand over her mouth. "I'll shut her up for you!"

Yammy grinned. "No need," He said with a smile and then he back handed the girl. Really, he considered it to have been a gentle blow, but the girl was still flung from her feet, crashing ungracefully on the hardwood floor. She slid to a stop and didn't move. No wait, her foot was twitching. Yammy laughed.

"Wha – Kiyone!" the guy shouted, his hands hovering uselessly in the air, and his eyes bulging.

People were starting to react now, slowly at first, almost as though they thought it had been an accident, and then one by one they realised what had happened.

Sentaro spun to face Yammy his teeth grinding they were clenched so tightly. "You bastard!" He yelled. "I'll make you pay for that!"

Yammy shut him up with his fist.

/\/\/\

The wall rushed to meet her and Yoruichi only just managed to get her hands up in time to stop herself from going face first into it. She tried to push back but found herself bumping into a very solid body. She froze. The person behind her shuffled closer pressing her into the wall. She felt them close in, warm breath on her ear.

"Remember me?"

"Can't say I do," She replied, although she did.

_Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez_

"Huh, really," He pressed in closer and took hold of her wrists. "I think ya do."

"No, no," She shook her head, her voice sounding a little bit too pleasant. "I really haven't a clue who you are."

He growled low in his throat. "Maybe I should just pop that knee o'your's out, maybe that'll jog ya memory." He nudged her right knee with his own.

She licked her lips. "What do you want?"

"Big fuckin' house in the country," he replied. "A fortune, few hotties to keep me warm at night and maybe a solid gold toilet. The idea of shittin' in gold appeals to me." He chuckled, a low rumble that made Yoruichi think of a large cat purring. "For now though, I'll settle for you."

She shuddered at that. "I had no idea I'd left such an impression on you," She turned her head and looked back over her shoulder at him, slightly dismayed by how much taller than she he was. "Have you been jerking yourself raw over little ol' me?"

There was a sneer on his face. He kneed her in the back of her leg and she winced but didn't make a sound.

"Bet you think all the guys are droolin' over you," His voice was dangerously low and laced with venom. "You stuck up rich types are all the same. Arrogant with nothin' to show for it."

"I'm pretty sure the girls are drooling over me too."

He kneed her again. This time her wince was accompanied by a hiss of pain; probably not the best idea to piss him off when she was in such a vulnerable position. She tried to work out in her head exactly what his position was, she needed to figure out a way to break his hold, and she needed to be able to do it without the aid of her arms.

"Yer nothing' special," he spun her round so her back was now against the wall and pinned her arms up above her head.

_Much better, _She thought. She could see him now, could make out where all his limbs were placed and would be able to figure out the best way to take him out. She didn't really like to resort to the tactic, it seemed somewhat cheap, but kicking him right between the legs seemed like the best option right now.

"Don't even think about it," he told her. He shifted himself so that he was pressed even closer, one of his legs sliding between hers. "Fact is; I only want a rematch with you."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "A rematch?" Oddly, hearing that made her feel slightly better about the situation.

"We never settled that last fight."

"You want to fight? Seems a bit strange, considering the position you have me in. It's not as though I can fight back from here, you could have just taken me out from behind." Why was she giving him ideas?

"Not my style," he still had a hold of her wrists and was gripping them tight enough to hurt. "I want to see which of us is better."

"No thanks," she replied with a pleasant smile. "I'm not really in the mood for a fight."

"Not like you've got a choice."

"You're very naive, aren't you?" her head cocked to the side as she considered him. "Do you know how many people in this place would kill you just for touching me? All I have to do is scream, and they'll come running."

It was true. As much as she didn't want to admit it, a single word from her could end him. She didn't like to resort to using her money or her status as a method to solve such petty problems, but she also didn't want to be drawn into a fight with this guy. He was stronger than her, and she couldn't risk him actually beating her. She wasn't naive enough to believe that he was one man acting alone; this had to all be part of a bigger plan.

To her surprise he laughed, high and loud and uncontrollably. "Scream? As if you fuckin' would," He lowered his face to hers so that they were mere centimetres apart. "Screamin' for help is beneath you. You would rather take anythin' and everythin' I could throw at you then admit you need help."

She glared at him. "Try me."

"My pleasure."

Before she could properly react (though she would later recognise the brief moment as a missed opportunity to strike) he shifted her arms so that he could grip both her wrists with one hand. She tried to push against his hold, but was dismayed to find that she couldn't even so much as budge him. He pressed his body even closer to hers and he nudged her legs apart with his knee, settling himself between them, his hand gripping her hip.

"Scream for me then, princess," he sneered, thrusting against her.

She gritted her teeth, a wave of disgust washing over her. She didn't scream for help though, she could have, she probably should have, but she didn't. He had been right, she would rather take anything he could throw at her then admit that she needed help. Besides, she figured that he wouldn't actually go through with this. He wanted to scare her, taunt her; he was just pushing at her buttons and hoping to provoke a reaction.

He was calling her bluff, and she had failed rather miserably.

"See! Knew you wouldn't scream." He sounded so triumphant. He thrust against her again. A pointless effort since she could feel through his pants and her dress that he wasn't hard.

Absurdly she felt annoyed and disappointed by this. It was a rather odd blow to her ego that she couldn't even give her would be rapist an erection. The stupidity of her thoughts, and the situation in general, caused her to laugh.

"Huh? The fuck you laughin' at?"

"I admit I'm no expert on men but," Her head tilted to the side and she smirked at him. "Seems to me; that you may have a _little _problem if you're planning on 'giving me one.'" She placed extra emphasis on the word 'little' smirking that bit more, and then added a mocking tone for the final part. She wanted him to understand that she knew that his threats were as empty as her bluffs.

He flushed. "Shut up!"

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it," She told him with false sympathy. "I'm sure it happens to a lot of guys. Nothing to be ashamed of. There are plenty of drugs out there to help guys just like you."

He grabbed hold of her face, hard, effectively slamming the back of her head into the wall. "I don't got a problem with smashin' yer fuckin' face in," his voice was quiet, low, dangerous. "Seems you might be more agreeable without yer teeth."

That shut her up. During all the mocking and the absurdness, she had forgotten just what a dangerous person he was. He was borderline psychotic; she could see it in his eyes. He wasn't at all afraid of her, of the power she could wield, or of the situation he was in from attacking her. He had no thought to the consequences of his actions; he was nothing but pure, raw rage with only violence as an outlet.

She had an awful feeling she wasn't going to get out of this one in one piece.

"Ara, ara!"

Now that wasn't Grimmjow. Both Yoruichi and Grimmjow turned their heads simultaneously to the source of the new voice, and Yoruichi smiled.

"Who the fuck are you?" Grimmjow demanded.

"Hirako Shinji," the newcomer announced. "Ah, Yoruichi-San, I'm so disappointed. You said that if you ever switched teams I'd be the first guy you called." He dropped the heavy looking black case he was carrying down on the ground.

"Sorry Shinji," She grinned at him, albeit it was strained compliments of Grimmjow's strong fingers digging into her jaw. "Apparently I couldn't resist this gorgeous hunk of man-meat."

Shinji cocked his head, and then his whole body, to the side. "Really? Never figured you to be the meat-head type."

Grimmjow growled for the umpteenth time.

Straightening up, Shinji removed the hat he was wearing and spun it on his fingertip. "Okay handsome, how 'bout you leave the lady alone?"

"You gonna make me?" Grimmjow snarled.

"Depends," Shinji answered in that annoying bored tone that only he seemed to possess. "You gonna make me, make you?"

Grimmjow looked somewhere between annoyed and really confused. "The fuck you one about?"

"Let her go, hnn?" Shinji said in an even tone. "You'll make my day, and probably your own a lot easier."

No one reacted. Yoruichi's jaw ached, Grimmjow's fingers still digging into the tender flesh, bruising it. Finally, after an age, he let go and stepped back from. She raised her hand and rubbed it gingerly across her face.

"Thank you," She commented to no one in particular. Grimmjow shot her a venomous look which she ignored. She walked slowly to Shinji, taking effort to make sure that Grimmjow knew that his threats of violence had had no effect on her. Stopping next to Shinji she looked to him, all traces of good humour leaving her. "You going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine," He muttered, his eyes never leaving Grimmjow. "You need to get back in the main bar. It's not going too good in there and your presence in required."

She nodded. "Understood," placing her hand on Shinji's thin shoulder she gave it a squeeze. "He's fast. He's strong. Don't get hurt."

"Your concern for my safety has me blushing," He smirked lazily. "Do I get a kiss for saving you?"

The corners of her mouth twitched slightly at that. "I'll think about it."

She removed her hand from his shoulder, and walked with deliberate confidence towards the ominous silence that was filling the bar.

/\/\/\

Once Yoruichi had left Shinji visibly relaxed with a loud sigh, it looked and felt, a lot like he had deflated. "Ah man!" He scratched at his head. "Pretending to be a big man is tiring work. Nyah, I'm not sure I'm cut out for it." He dusted off his hat and then placed it firmly on his head.

Grimmjow hadn't moved from where he was standing. His fists were clenched at his side and he seemed to be trembling with rage. His lips curled back, baring his teeth, and a loud snarl escaped him.

"Hmm?" Shinji sounded bored. "Sorry, am I keeping you?"

With a roar, Grimmjow pounced at Shinji, his arm outstretched.

"Predictable," Shinji muttered. He stepped lightly round Grimmjow's attack and seized his wrist with one hand. Twisting, he brought his leg up and kicking Grimmjow's feet from under him, and used the arrogant youth's own moment to somersault him over and flat onto his back. It was so simple, absolutely no thought had gone into the kid's attack, it made Shinji sick that anyone could have had a problem with him.

"Wha-"

"Stay still," Shinji ordered, he pulled his revolver from the inside of his coat and pointed it at Grimmjow's head. "Moving right now would be a very bad idea."

Grimmjow bared his teeth and glared at Shinji.

"Lemme guess, small time thug lookin' for the big time break?" Shinji shook his head. "Your fists may have worked back on the streets kid, but you're playin' with the big boys now. And the big boys carry guns. Hmm, you're not even a little bit scared?"

"You ain't gonna shoot me."

Shinji laughed. "True! But I might just beat you within an inch of your life. That could be fun."

"Eat shit."

"Well," Shinji considered this. "I eat mushrooms, and they grow from shit... So, yeah, already been there I guess." He pressed the tip of the barrel against Grimmjow's fore head. "I'm going to let you get up, and then you're going to walk all the way down this corridor and outta here. You even try to touch Yoruichi-San again and I'll have no choice but to kill you. Understand?"

Grimmjow spat in his face in response. Shinji flinched back; annoyingly the slight break in his concentration was more than enough time for Grimmjow to get back on his feet. He lunged for Shinji again, his fist flying for his exposed face.

"Shit!" Shinji dropped down, avoiding the punch. He kicked out at Grimmjow's feet, catching him sideways on the ankle and toppling him again. He smashed the heel of his shoe into the side of Grimmjow's head, once, twice and a third time for good measure.

"Dammit!" Shinji staggered to his feet wiping his face. "Urgh! There's snot on me!" He spun and kicked Grimmjow hard in the gut. The fallen kid groaned, earning himself another kick.

"Fine!" Shinji grabbed Grimmjow's wrist and started dragging him towards the side door. "I'll toss ya out instead."

/\/\/\

The bar was eerily silent, and Yoruichi couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy about it. She moved slowly, warily, it was obvious that Grimmjow hadn't been alone, and she half expected one of his accomplices to jump out at any moment to attack her. She really wished she was more appropriately dressed. Her boots were her favourites and were well worn in, though the heel made them awkward to run or fight in. Her dress was the biggest problem, whenever she ran or did anything too adventurous it had a habit of hitching up and exposing her.

Stupid thoughts really. She might be facing a life and death situation and she was worried about her wardrobe. Admittedly she'd hate to die with her ass on display, which would be mildly embarrassing. Still, at least she was wearing matching underwear.

She turned round the corner and the large bar came into view. Everyone that was left in it was standing stock still, all watching someone to the left of the room. She walked out to the middle of the room, people turned to look at her, gasped as they recognised her.

_Where's Kisuke? _She wondered. She needed to pin point all of her people. _Kuukaku? Kaien? _

She couldn't see any of them though, and she couldn't risk making too big of a show of looking for them. Her eyes locked on the figures that everyone was staring at. On the floor sat a large man, possibly the largest man she had ever seen, he appeared to be sitting on someone, legs were sticking out from underneath him.

Her eyes flickered to the second figure, standing and holding a small girl in his hands. Yoruichi felt herself go cold as she realised who he had a hold of. Kuchiki Rukia. Which meant that the one on the floor was probably Ichigo. Mentally she sighed, that boy just seemed to get himself knocked out left, right and centre.

"Shihouin Yoruichi," the one holding Rukia said. He seemed to be pressing something against Rukia's throat, a knife perhaps.

"That's right," Yoruichi said her voice steady even if her stomach was squirming. Where were Kisuke and the others? Had something happened to them? At least Soi was safe. "And who might you be?"

"I am Aaroniero Arruruerie," He replied. "And this is my associate Yammy Rialgo."

_Idiots _Yoruichi nodded in acknowledgment. Why had they so easily identified themselves? And in front of so many witnesses. Did they really think they could get away with this?

"How about you let Rukia go?" she suggested.

"I think not," Aaroniero replied. His voice was shaky and he looked as if he was sweating. "I'm afraid you are to come with us Shihouin-Dono."

She felt herself cringe at the honorific. "I'd rather not."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," he informed her, licking at his teeth.

She remained silent. Despite her predicament, Rukia didn't look scared. She looked angry and outraged that she was being used as a hostage.

"And if I don't?" Yoruichi asked. She was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but she needed them to confirm just how far they were prepared to go.

In answer Aaroniero pressed the weapon hard against Rukia's throat. The kill went to her tiptoes and tried to lean away from the sharp point, succeeding only in exposing her throat.

"Okay! Okay!" Yoruichi held up her hands. "I get it. I'll come with you, just let her go."

He shook his head rapidly. "No, no, no! I can't let her go!"

"I promise that I'll go with you two, and I promise that I won't try anything. But you have to let Rukia go first."

"I can't!" He yelled, his eyes bulging.

He wasn't blinking, Yoruichi realised. He hadn't blinked at all since she'd first laid eyes on him. Not a good sign. "Right," She said slowly. "What if Rukia and I switch places? Would that be acceptable?"

He looked suddenly unsure. He looked to the bug man, Yammy she remembered, as though expecting him to have the answer.

"I say we take em both," Yammy clambered to his feet and dusted himself off. "You keep hold of that one, I'll grab this one."

_Shit! _Yoruichi's eyes darted about, trying to find a way out of this. Yammy was moving towards her, his large hands reaching out. She shuffled back from him, not wanting to let him actually touch her. Still, she figured that she'd be able to knock this guy down just as easily as she was planning on knocking Aaroniero. Bigger didn't mean tougher, it just meant they hard farther to fall.

A hand arrested Yammy's wrist bringing him to a stop.

Yoruichi grinned. "Kisuke," she said her eyes flicking up to him. "You took your time."

"Sorry, Yoruichi-San," He apologised. "I wanted to make an entrance."

Yammy stared at Kisuke as though he was only a mild annoyance. "If yer don't let go then I'll-"

"Yer'll what?" Kuukaku stepped up behind Kisuke. "We got this guy Yoruichi."

"Understood," Yoruichi turned from them, she heard Yammy start to say something that was cut off by an almighty crash. She stopped for a brief moment, turned her head just in time to see Kuukaku stand right on the large man's head, crushing his nose by the sounds of it.

Yoruichi turned back to Aaroniero and Rukia. "Let her go," She said softly.

Aaroniero looked completely lost. People were starting to react, making a hell of a noise as they rushed about trying to get to the exit, or a better view. Yoruichi frowned it was a piece of glass that Aaroniero was holding against Rukia's throat she realised, his hand was bleeding from gripping it so tight.

"Let her go," she repeated. "And walk away."

Someone screamed, and then there was a loud crash behind her, Yoruichi spun round. Yammy was back on his feet, lurching unsteadily towards Kuukaku and Kisuke, tossing tables out of his path as though they were made from cardboard.

She turned back to face Aaroniero just in time to see him charging at her. He tackled her, both of them crashing hard to the ground. Her elbow twisted awkwardly behind her, trapped beneath their duel weight. _Stupid, stupid! _She cursed herself for taking her eyes off of him. She managed to push him off slightly, enough so that she could free her arm.

Her head snapped to the side as she felt a large hand slap her across the face. Her vision blurred for a second from the impact. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the black spots from her vision. It took another moment to realise that he was straddling her, his hand raised for another attack.

"Umph!" He toppled to the side as Rukia's foot connected with the side of his head.

Yoruichi rolled to her side, propped herself up on two hands, and swung her leg round in a wide arc kicking Aaroniero in the head. Hard. He went down and didn't move.

"Fucker!" She hissed.

"Are you okay?" Rukia helped Yoruichi to her feet.

"Yeah," Yoruichi nodded. Her head was ringing from the slap, or perhaps it was a delayed reaction from when Grimmjow had cracked it off of the wall. There was blood in her mouth and she realised that she had cut the inside of her mouth on her teeth. She winced. "I'm fine. You?"

Rukia nodded.

"Good," Yoruichi sucked in a few deep breaths. She could still hear Yammy making a hell of a racket as he chased Kuukaku and Kisuke. Didn't he realise that they were toying with him? She turned back to Aaroniero, and paused, he wasn't there.

Her eyes widened and out of the corner of her eye she saw the blur of movement. She shoved Rukia out of the way just as Aaroniero once again crashed into her. The wind rushed out of her and she cried out as she hit the floor. One of his hands was fixed around her throat choking her. He pressed down with his body weight, crushing her windpipe, as she tried desperately to pry his fingers from her. The edges of her vision were blurring.

_No, no, no! _Her mind screamed. _Not like this! _

She was making a strange clacking noise as she tried to suck breath into her lungs. Aaroniero's lips were drawn so far back that Yoruichi could count his teeth, saliva dripped from his mouth, and his eyes bulged with the effort.

Gritting her teeth, Yoruichi kicked her leg from the ground and caught him in the back of the head with the toe of her boot. He threw his head back and howled. His grip loosened and it was enough, and Yoruichi managed to tear his hand from her throat. She gulped down several lungs full of air and then proceeded to punch Aaroniero hard in the side. She twisted so that she could knee him in the back.

He clumsily grabbed at her. "Aizen-Sama said to take you!" He managed to slap her again, though it was feeble. "I have to take you to Aizen-Sama!" He sounded as though he was sobbing.

Yoruichi continued to knee at him. He leant close and she swung her forearm into his jaw knocking him back. His eyes glazed for a second but he managed to stay on her. He gripped the fabric of her dress tightly and raised his free hand. The shard of glass glinted in the light.

Aaroniero's face flickered in brief confusion, and then he was ripped from Yoruichi by an unseen force and flung away. Yoruichi was pulled over forcefully, her dress tore, and rolled to a stop.

Yoruichi sat up, her eyes wide as she recognised the figure who had tossed Aaroniero away as though he was nothing. Kaien stood tall with his back to Yoruichi. His fists were clenched and he was clearly ready for a fight.

"I can't leave you alone for five minutes, Shihouin," he said looking back over his shoulder.

She smiled. "You took your time."

He shrugged. "I'm a busy man," he stalked over to Aaroniero and lifted him by his shirt with one arm. Kaien seemed to consider Aaroniero for a moment, and then his fist flung out smashing into his face. Kaien punched Aaroniero several more times, holding him up, until he was satisfied. He dropped the unmoving for of Aaroniero the floor, nudged him with his foot and then he nodded in satisfaction.

Turning from his beaten opponent, Kaien strolled over towards Yoruichi and she smiled. She was about to hold her hand out for Kaien to help her up, when he walked right past her. She frowned at that and turned round. Kaien was on his knees helping Rukia up.

"Are you okay, Kuchiki?" He asked his voice soft.

"Yes, Kaien-Dono," She answered a slight blush on cheeks.

"Good," He smiled at her and placed his hand flat on the top of her head.

"Oi!" Yoruichi yelled. "What about me?"

Kaien stared. "What about you?" He smirked suddenly. "Nice breasts by the way."

"Huh?" She looked down. Her dress was torn across the front and her bra was exposed. "Wonderful." She climbed to her feet, one hand holding the front of her dress up.

"Best clear this up," Kaien said moving away from Rukia. He went over to Aaroniero and flipped him over with his foot.

"Gah!" Aaroniero flung himself up into Kaien, almost as though he was hugging the eldest Shiba. Kaien's eyes widened and he grimaced, staggering back. He gripped Aaroniero's shoulders and dragged him up to his feet, spinning he flung Aaroniero away and into a table and crashing to the floor.

"Kaien?" Yoruichi reached out towards her friend.

Kaien looked confused. His hands were pressed tight down below his stomach. He staggered, as though drunk, coughed once, twice, almost went down to one knee before he straightened up.

"Yoruichi?" He swallowed. He reached out a hand towards her, it was covered in blood.

Her eyes widened in shock and horror as she realised what had happened. The world seemed to slow down. She reached out to him, felt her feet move, someone was screaming. She could hear her own breaths, slow and ragged, drawn in and exhaled. The light gleamed behind Kaien, silhouetting him against the world, and for a brief moment Shiba Kaien stood tall and still and illuminated like a god.

And then he toppled to the earth.

Yoruichi ran to him, tried to catch him but was for the first time in her life too slow. Rukia wasn't. She slid along the ground and caught Kaien just before his head cracked off of the floor. Yoruichi landed on her knees next to him half a second later, and the world returned to the right speed.

"Kaien? Kaien!" Rukia cried, panic evident in her voice.

His hands were scrambling around near his groin, blood oozing thick and slowly between them. Yoruichi looked down, a shard of glass jutted from his flesh. He gripped it.

"Kaien don't!" She yelled too late. With a grunt he ripped it from his body and flung it away. Blood spurted from the open wound in a high arc. "Fuck!" Yoruichi pressed her hands against the wound feeling the blood seep through her fingers. "Shit! Shit!"

"That feels better," Kaien gasped.

Yoruichi wanted to shout at him for being an idiot, but couldn't find her voice. She swallowed, forced moisture back into her mouth. "Rukia," she managed to croak out. "Rukia!"

The girl's head snapped up. "What?"

"I need something to press against the wound, a towel or something."

Rukia looked helplessly around her. "I haven't got anything."

"It's okay," Yoruichi's voice sounded a lot calmer than she felt. "Come here. I can't take my hands off of him. I need you to rip some of my dress off and give it to me."

She nodded and shuffled over, carefully reaching under Yoruichi's arms and taking hold of the ripped fabric. The material was fairly thin and tore off easily; Rukia folded it to make it thicker and held it out for Yoruichi.

"Good," Yoruichi took the wad of fabric and quickly pressed it against the wound. "Rukia, have you got any of his blood on you?"

"Uh, a bit," She answered her voice shaking.

"Then wipe it off, okay," Yoruichi told her. Blood had already soaked right through the fabric of her dress. "Try not to get any more on you."

"O-okay," Rukia shuffled back over to Kaien's head and looked down on him.

"Kisuke!" Yoruichi yelled her voice hoarse. "Kisuke!"

"Don't call him over," Kaien mumbled his voice slow and heavy. "I don't want to see him."

"He'll be more help then I am," Yoruichi muttered.

"Not as much fun though," Somehow Kaien sounded nearly perky. "Shihouin, move your hand a little further south, there's a surprise for you."

It was too absurd, and Yoruichi couldn't help but laughed. "I can't believe that's what you're thinking about."

"I got a beautiful woman near my guy, how can I not be thinking that," he laughed weakly and then groaned. "Ah, you wouldn't know what to do with it anyway."

For some reason that annoyed Yoruichi. "What's to do with it," She muttered. "Give it a tug and it'll make you smile."

"Go ahead then."

She decided in her head to blame this all on the blood loss. She pressed down on the wound, blood had soaked right through the balled up fabric seeping through it, and her hands were covered. "Kisuke!" She screamed again.

A heavy thud to the other side of Kaien announced Kisuke arrival. Yoruichi's eyes locked on his, and she could tell just from the look in them that this was bad. He pulled off his shirt and ripped it. Yoruichi pulled away as Kisuke pressed the balled up remains of his shirt against the wound. Yoruichi's knee slipped on the floor and she realised that it was soaked with Kaien's blood too.

"You ... all ... look so ... miserable," Kaien's voice sounded like it was far away.

"Just stay still," Kisuke told him. "There's an ambulance on the way."

Kaien twitched and suddenly Yoruichi became very aware of his breathing. He was drawing in long, slow shallow breaths that rattled in his throat. She looked to Kisuke and he shook his head slowly.

"...Kaien?"

Yoruichi's head snapped up at the sound of Kuukaku's voice.

_Oh no..._

Kuukaku stood just a few feet away, her eyes wide and her mouth open. She took a step forward, slowly and woodenly. Then she dashed, dropping to her knees and sliding the rest of the way, her hands thumping down on either side of Kaien's head.

"Kaien?"

Yoruichi desperately didn't want to be here. She didn't want to hear this exchange.

"Hey ... Kuu..." Kaien trailed off. "What's ... that ... look ... for?"

"Yer gonna be fine," Kuukaku's voice sounded unlike anything Yoruichi had ever heard from her friend. It hitched on the words, broke near the end. "Right, Kisuke? He's gonna be fine?"

Kisuke froze, clearly not wanting to answer. "The ambulance will be here soon," He said his voice heavy.

"See," Kuukaku said, though it didn't sound like she believed her words.

Yoruichi was trembling; her teeth were gritted so tight her jaw ached. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to shut out Kuukaku and Kaien's voices.

"You look like ... you're gonna ... cry..."

Yoruichi swallowed the lump in her throat, heard her own teeth grind.

Kaien twitched, seemed to laugh judging by the slight rumble through his body, the rattle in his throat.

"... Doesn't ... even hurt... anymore..."

Silence.

And then.

"Kaien?" Kuukaku's voice sounded as though it was so far away, like it was coming through a filter. "Kaien? Come on... Please. Kaien, Kaien! ... Onii-San..."

Kaien remained still. Yoruichi forced her eyes open, Kisuke was looking right back at her. He took a hold of her wrists gently and moved her hands away from Kaien.

"He's gone," Kisuke said his voice sounding hollow.

Yoruichi looked down to her hands, covered in Kaien's blood, and shaking, Her breath hitched in her throat and she swallowed, unsure of what she should do. Someone was crying but she couldn't tell who, someone else shouting, screaming perhaps. She shuffled back from Kaien, away from what was Kaien, away from his ... body she realised as the thought slowly sank in and took a hold.

Shiba Kaien was dead.

* * *

**I really depressed myself with this one. Poor Kaien, I really liked him too D:**

**Reviews are always appreciated (feel free to shout at me) so click ze button.**

**And on another note, CrimsonGaze I caught up with you, you know what that means :P**

**I was too lasy to check through this properly (and too bummed out) so there's probably a metric fuckton of mistakes, I'll fix them later. **

_**A Toast to Broken Glass **_**by InMe and is taken from their album **_**Daydream Anonymous**_


	19. Whiteout

Whiteout

It smelt like death; like sickness and sweat, sterile chemicals and excrement, like faded hopes and lost dreams. It smelt like death. It hung in the air, cloying and thick, smothering everything in a cold blanket of inevitability. Everything about this place made you painfully aware of your own mortality.

This was where people came to die.

The whiteness of the walls and the stark lighting only added to the morbid ambiance, as though they fully intended for the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel to be the first thing you saw when you walked in the building. It made you wonder if you would ever leave again.

It was this feeling, the reminder that this is where the living joined the dead, which preyed upon Soi's mind as she walked through the doors. Soi hated hospitals, she had never liked them not since she was a little girl and had watched her grandmother wither and die in one.

She crossed the waiting room, ignored the rows of people sitting on uncomfortable plastic seats; coughing, spluttering, some with masks on as though it would protect them from the germs. She made her way to reception, where a blonde man wearing glasses was sitting behind a plastic screen his head bowed and looking as though he was ignoring the world.

She rapped her knuckled on the screen. "Excuse me," she was a little surprised at how calm she sounded. "Could you tell me what room Shihouin Yoruichi is in?"

She had only been home, well at Yoruichi's, for a brief time when Byakuya had called her. He hadn't said much; that there had been an incident at the Thirteenth bar and that Yoruichi was involved in it and was now at the hospital. He had given her the name of the hospital and then hung up on her. Soi didn't know what had happened; she didn't know what was wrong with Yoruichi or why she was in hospital. She had called a taxi and come straight here without any sort of idea of what was wrong with Yoruichi.

She knocked again on the screen; the man still seemed to be ignoring her, so she thumped her fist this time. He glanced up at her, and then returned to his writing.

"I'm sure you're very busy," Soi said ignoring her ever growing anxiety and trying not to sound angry. "But could you please tell me where I can find Shihouin Yoruichi?"

"Are you family?" He asked still not looking up.

"No, I'm..." She wasn't entirely sure how to end that sentence, partner being the most obvious choice of words even though it refused to leave her lips.

"If you're not family then I can't do anything for you, if you are family," he looked up at her this time, beady eyes hidden behind glasses. "Then take a seat and I'm sure you'll hear something eventually."

"What?" She glared at him, anger bubbling its way to the surface. "Can you at least tell me what's wrong with her?"

"No."

_Bastard!_

She exhaled, her eyes closing as she tried to calm herself. Mixed among the anger she was feeling was panic, it wasn't a good feeling. She wasn't a patient person at the best of times, and she certainly wasn't one while under stress and scared and unsure.

"She'll want to see me," she reasoned. "If you can just take a message up to her, then I'm sure she'll want me with her." At least Soi hoped so; Yoruichi could sometimes be odd about things like this. Things she would perceive as possible signs of weakness.

"Look kid," he looked back up, a bored expression on his face. "Do you have any idea how many of Shihouin's fans we've had in tonight? You can spin me whatever sob story you like but I'm not telling you which room she's in. Now go home, I'm sure you'll be able to read about her ridiculous story in the paper."

Soi punched the screen hard enough to bruise her own knuckles. The man shifted back, eyes wide in shock. She slammed her hand flat against it, slightly surprised that she had cracked the screen.

"Look, you are going to tell me which room she's in, or I am going to get very angry with you and I'll be forced to hurt you. I don't think you want that."

"I'm calling security," he scrambled for the phone.

She punched the screen twice more, the action fuelling her anger rather than releasing it. She'd never been good at handling her emotions, and anger seemed to be her reset for when she couldn't handle all the others in her system. It was easier to give in to that than to show any sign of weakness. Her fist flung forward again but was cut short by arms snaking around her and gripping her in a full-nelson. She was hauled backwards off of her feet and flung round and away from the screen. She skidded on her feet, managed to keep her balance, and then raised her head to see which fool had decided to get in her way.

Her eyes widened. "Kira?"

"Soi-Chan?" He looked just as surprised. "Sorry about that, I thought you were some loony trying to smash up the place."

"She is!" The man behind the screen yelled. "She tried to assault me!"

Kira ignored him and looked back to Soi. "What are you doing here?"

"Yoruichi," she blurted hurrying over to Kira and grabbing the front of his top. "Do you know which room she's in?" She sounded desperate. She found that she didn't care.

"Yoruichi-San's here?" He looked perplexed and Soi felt her heart drop. He must have noticed the disappointed and scared look on her face, because one of sympathy crossed his own features. "I'll see what I can find out." He told her, carefully removing her hands from his top.

Soi frowned and stepped back from him, her eyes scanning over what he was wearing; they looked like scrubs. "Do you work here?"

"Yeah, didn't you know that? I'm a porter. The hours are crap but the money's pretty good," he offered her a smile. "Wait here; I'll go find a doctor or a nurse or something." He dashed off leaving Soi alone.

She rubbed at her knuckles, feeling slightly foolish at her little outburst. People were staring at her and shuffling away, clearly not wanting to be near the crazy girl who had tried to punch her way through a Perspex window. The skin was split over the knuckle of her middle finger and stung; she raised it to her mouth and sucked the blood away.

It seemed to take Kira an age to return, and when he did he had a young doctor in tow. Soi frowned as she realised that she knew the doctor with Kira.

"Isane-San," Soi forced a smile. "I didn't realise that you worked here."

The tall girl nodded. "First year resident," She explained a hint of pride in her voice.

"Oh," Soi mumbled feeling slightly guilty. When she had fist arrived in Japan she and Isane had been friends, they had gradually lost contact and Soi felt fairly sure that she had been the one to fail in keeping in touch.

"You're here for Yoruichi, right?" Isane asked apparently not angry in the least with Soi's crap efforts of keeping a friendship going.

Soi nodded. "Do you know what happened?"

"I can take you to see her," Isane said ignoring Soi's question. "But quickly. I'm not really supposed to do this and I don't want to get in trouble."

"Okay," Soi swallowed and followed Isane as she led her and Kira away.

"Did you hear about Shiba?" Kira asked. "I just heard now when I went to get Isane-San."

Soi frowned. "Shiba? You mean Kuukaku?"

"No, Kaien," Kira looked away. "You don't know then."

"What happened to Kaien?"

Isane stopped and sighed. "I suppose I should explain that much," she turned to Soi, sympathy shining in her large doe eyes. "It would seem that Shiba Kaien died tonight."

_Died?_

Soi was shocked. It was only a few hours ago that she had last seen Kaien, and he had seemed perfectly fine then. What had he died of? She felt cold and suddenly afraid. She had been hoping that Yoruichi was here for superficial reasons, but if Kaien was dead then something far more serious was happening. What if Yoruichi was hurt? What if it was serious? What would she do then?

"This way," Isane led them towards the elevators.

Soi couldn't get her head around it. It seemed unreal, as though this was all happening to someone else. Shiba Kaien was dead. And what had happened to Yoruichi? She swallowed down the fear and kept close to Isane. She wouldn't feel alright until she saw Yoruichi safe.

/\/\/\

They exited the elevator; Soi following close behind Isane, Kira at her side. She didn't understand how Isane could tell where she was going. All the corridors looked the same to Soi; the same dull off-white, the same faintly flickering fluorescent lighting and the same doors occasionally dotted in random pattern. There didn't seem to be any signs to guide you, and Soi had to suppose that Isane had some sort of internal navigation system that she'd cultivated over too many nights spent wandering the long lonely, and depressing, corridors. She briefly wondered if Isane was immune to the smell; there was an almost overpowering stench of disinfectant that, when Soi inhaled too sharply, burned the inside of her nostrils and made her eyes water.

It was easier for Soi to blame her continually misting eyes on the disinfectant than to admit that she was staving off tears. She could still feel panic of earlier at the edges of her mind, a cold fear in the pit of her gut and the frustration that no one seemed to be willing to tell her anything. As clichéd as it was, not actually knowing what was wrong with Yoruichi was probably the worst feeling right now. It left too much room for her suddenly over-active imagination to concoct the worst possible scenarios and play them over and over in her mind.

They rounded a corner, Isane marching ahead all business-like her usual timid persona forgotten, clearly not welcome in her working environment. Soi had to quicken her own pace to keep up, Isane's legs were much longer than her own and her stride greater than either Soi's or Kira's. Occasionally Kira would try to shoot Soi a reassuring look, the corners of his mouth trembling and threatening a smile of sorts. It was a wasted effort; Kira being Kira looked closer to an anxiety attack than to anything supportive. His eyes had a wild panicked look to them and there was sweat on his quivering top lip. Had Soi been a more caring person, or had her mind not been so utterly focussed on Yoruichi, then she might have suggested that he try breathing. Honestly, his lips her starting to turn blue.

It sort of pissed her off that he was looking so panicked. What the hell was he so worried about anyway? He wasn't the one who had been called up and practically ordered by Byakuya to go to the hospital with only a vague mention that Yoruichi was there. It wasn't as though someone he loved was hurt, it wasn't even as though one of his friends was here – he and Yoruichi were acquaintances at best. Soi found it hard to believe that he might actually just be worried on her behalf, in her mind that sort of concern was too foreign and useless a concept.

Thinking about the sudden phone call brought back the panic that Soi had felt at the time with a vengeance. She swallowed, the physical action helping her to force the panic back. It wouldn't do her any good to fall to pieces now. First she'd ascertain if Yoruichi was alright, if she wasn't then she could have her moment of falling to pieces before she pulled herself to together and figured out who's ass she needed to kick.

_She'll be alright, S_he forced that thought to the forefront of her mind. Of course Yoruichi would be all right, she was always all right. Like a cat, she always landed on her feet no matter the situation.

They turned left round another corner and slowed, a large grey double-door blocked their path.

"Not far now," Isane informed them. She turned and gave Soi a small reassuring smile that was much more effective than Kira's pitiful effort. She opened the doors and held them for both Kira and Soi. "Just down this corridor here." She set off again, her pace quicker and Soi had to move up to a light jog to keep up.

This corridor was slightly different to the others; uncomfortable looking benches were set against the walls next to the doors that occasionally broke up the monotony of the bare walls. Soi assumed that the rooms through the doors must be patient rooms and his benches were for visiting family and friends. She felt a stab of panic; if Yoruichi had a room then that probably meant that she needed to stay, that she required treatment, which meant that she was injured.

Kaien was dead. Isane had explained that much, she hadn't gone into detail about how exactly Kaien had wound up dead since, really, it wasn't any of Soi's business and patient confidentially no doubt prevented Isane from revealing anything. It was also probably the reason that Isane had negated to inform Soi of Yoruichi's condition. Having already decided that Kaien was clearly the victim of an accident of some description; Soi was hoping that Yoruichi was suffering for a simple case of shock at his sudden passing. This was of course contradictory to the images her imagination was still in the mid-process of conjuring up for her.

Soi quickened her pace so that she could walk next to Isane. "Is Yoruichi in one of these rooms?" she asked.

"Yes," Isane confirmed with an accompanying nod. "Try not to worry though. These rooms are for overnight patients only. And even then they are only for patients who can afford them."

Soi nodded. "So does that mean that there isn't anything seriously wrong with Yoruichi? " She questioned. "I mean, if she were seriously injured then she wouldn't be up here, right?"

Isane grimaced. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt too..." she trailed off and sighed, slowing to a stop.

Soi stopped too and turned to Isane. "I'm sorry for putting you in this position," She sighed. "I just want to know what I should expect when I see her." She didn't want to admit how worried she was, though she suspected that it probably showed in her body language.

"I haven't seen her chart, so I can't be certain, but if she's on one of these rooms then there's probably nothing severely wrong."

"Thank you," Soi nodded. "How much further?"

"Not far," Isane started walking again. "Actually we're here now." She gave a small timid laugh and pointed ahead.

Soi followed the direction that Isane pointed; the bench outside one of the rooms was occupied by a woman who seemed to be absorbed in the book she held in her lap. Soi thanked Isane and made her way to the room, ignoring the woman who was vaguely familiar, and reaching out for the door handle.

"Hold it!" The woman's arm flung out and blocked Soi's path. She closed her book and stood up, manoeuvring her way in front of the door. "You're not allowed in there."

Soi gritted her teeth, her fists clenching. "Why the hell not?" she demanded glaring at the woman.

"Because," the woman said straightening her glasses even though they didn't require her attention in the slightest. "You're not."

Soi growled and resisted the urge to hit the woman. It wouldn't do her any good to be thrown out of the hospital for violent behaviour. "Look, could you just tell Yoruichi that I'm here?" she asked, forcing her tone into neutrality. "I'm sure that she'll..." Soi trailed off as she finally recognised the bespectacled woman in front of her. "Ise?"

Nanao's eyes widened slightly and she looked down on Soi, clearly only just recognising her too. "Oh, it's you." She muttered turning her head slightly and looking uncomfortable. "I'm sorry Fon-San, but I can't let you in."

The anger bubbled its way back to the surface. "Why not?"

"I was told not to let anyone in," Nanao explained.

Soi was about to unleash all hell on Nanao when she was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder. She turned and was surprised to see that it belonged to Kira, who had a determined look on his face.

"I think it'll be all right to let Soi-Chan in," he told Nanao. "I'm sure that Yoruichi-San would want to speak to her."

Nanao shifted slightly on her feet, the look of discomfort intensified. "I am very sorry," though she didn't sound it. "But I can't let anyone in. That includes you." She turned back to Soi.

Soi inhaled slowly, counted to ten in her head, and exhaled. Her fists were still clenched tightly, her arms quivering with the pent up tension in her body, but she managed to keep the anger from her features and from her voice when she spoke.

"Ise-San, I understand that you are only doing your job, but I need you to move, or I am going to move you myself."

Nanao audibly swallowed, but she held her ground, folding her arms across her chest and assuming a stern look on her face a slight flush to her cheeks. Soi sighed, she was both surprised and annoyed at Nanao's refusal to let her by. She had assumed that Nanao would fold as soon as she made the slightest threat towards physical force, but the woman stood her ground.

_Foolish, _Soi mentally rebuked Nanao. She shrugged Kira's hand from her shoulder and took a step forward, noticing that Nanao had to stop herself from flinching. Soi ignored her and reached out her arm and shoved Nanao roughly to the side, not caring if she hurt her. She grasped the door handle, ignored Nanao's yelled protests, and threw the door open.

She paused at the sight before her, her anger dissipating for a moment. The first thing she saw was that idiot Urahara, looking both surprised and a mess, his shirt, or what was left of it, was torn and stained with what looked an awful lot like blood. The next thing she noticed were the other two men in the room; Ukitake Jushiro and Kyoraku Shunsui. They both had similar looks of surprise on their faces; Kyoraku's softened into an almost warm look of understanding.

He smiled at her. "It's been a while since I last saw you Soi-Chan," he said, tipping his imaginary hat to her. "You look well."

"I'm sorry, "Nanao said from behind Soi. "I did try to stop her."

"Don't worry about it, Nanao-Chan," Kyoraku told her. "Soi-Chan here is just eager to see her Yoru-Chan. I think we've said everything that needs to be said anyway, don't you, Jushiro?"

"What? Oh, yes," Ukitake nodded his agreement. "Thank you for your cooperation, Shihouin-San."

He stepped aside and Soi felt her heart begin to race; Yoruichi was perched on the bed just behind Ukitake and Kyoraku, her bare feet dangling over the side and she was dressed in her coat which she had buttoned all the way up. Soi froze; something was very wrong here, something about the way in which Yoruichi was sitting, hunched over and her head lowered.

"Take good care of her, Soi-Chan," Kyoraku said placing his hand on Soi's shoulder. "Oh, and Kira-Kun's here too! Perhaps you could show me where I could get a decent cup of coffee?"

Soi heard the door behind her close, recognised that both Kyoraku and Ukitake had left apparently taking Kira with them; annoyingly Urahara was still here but she chose to ignore him. She crossed the room towards Yoruichi, her hand going under Yoruichi's chin and then sliding across her cheek. Her cheek was bruised Soi realised, and slightly puffy with a small amount of swelling. Soi cast her eyes down Yoruichi picking out other injuries; there was another bruise on her slender neck, long and thin as though hands had been wrapped around them. Soi felt anger flare at that and she had to suppress it since it would be useless here. Instead she trailed her fingers lightly across Yoruichi's bruised flesh, finding an odd comfort when Yoruichi tilted her head back so that Soi could see the bruised flesh there more easily.

She took in every injury' every bruise, every scrape and Soi promised herself that she would find whoever had done this and would make them pay for it.

It wasn't until Yoruichi looked down to her and Soi looked up that the real pain set in for Soi. She could handle the bruises, the physical injuries, she could handle them and translate the emotion she felt at them into anger which would fuel her need to see someone scream for this; but she couldn't handle the look in the Goddess's eyes. There were too many emotions there that she wasn't used to seeing in Yoruichi's eyes; Soi could see pain and sadness, a slight flickering of relief that Soi selfishly hoped she had brought Yoruichi, and there was anger there as well though it was muted. What shocked Soi though, was that beneath all those emotions was something that Soi had never seen Yoruichi express before; fear.

Yoruichi was scared.

The realisation terrified Soi. Fear was far too human a misgiving for the Goddess to be feeling, she had always been above such things and had never in all the time that Soi had known her expressed any level of fear at anything.

Soi found herself pressing closer to Yoruichi and pulling her into a hug. She felt relief when Yoruichi's arms moved loosely round her and returned the gesture, though it felt slightly wrong that it seemed as though Yoruichi was comforting Soi and not the other way round. The thought only made Soi tighten her hold, press her face into the crook of Yoruichi's neck and inhale her scent.

A light knock at the door moved them apart, though Soi took hold of Yoruichi's hand and gripped it tighter than she probably should have. Urahara was leaning against the wall, his head turned away from both Yoruichi and Soi. The door opened and in walked a doctor; female and authorative even if there was a compassionate look to her features.

"Yoruichi-San," she greeted warmly and with a familiar tone that suggested that she knew Yoruichi. "How are you feeling?"

A strained smile made its way up Yoruichi's face. "I've felt better, Retsu-San"

The tone of her voice was all wrong to Soi's ears; it was too hoarse, croaked and quiet. Was the bruising to her neck more than it appeared? She gripped Yoruichi's hand tighter in her own.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, Unohana-San," Urahara greeted her, his face uncharacteristically grim. "I hope you've been keeping well."

"I have," Unohana graced him with a smile. "I'm afraid I have to ask both you and Shaolin-San to leave."

Soi's grip on Yoruichi tightened and she pressed herself closer to her, unwilling to leave Yoruichi even for a second. Unohana was looking at her now, her face was calm and almost motherly, but Soi felt herself shrinking away from it realising that if Unohana wanted her to leave then there was nothing she could do to prevent it. Yoruichi worked her hand out of Soi's grip and pushed herself further up the bed and away from Soi.

With a small nod, Soi made her way from the room, grasping at the only feeling she could to keep herself from crying and making a fool of herself; anger. She strode past Urahara, kindly holding the door for her, and out into the hallway. Once she heard the door click shut she rounded on the blonde man.

"What the hell happened?" she demanded.

She expected him to do that evasive goofy thing he did whenever he was asked a question, instead his look darkened and he leaned against the wall.

"Well?"

Sighing, Urahara ran a hand through his scruffy hair. "How much do you know?"

"Not a lot, no one seems to want to tell me anything."

"Do you know about Kaien?" He almost looked guilty, or as guilty as Urahara ever looked.

"I know that he's dead," Soi replied, her voice quieter. "I assume there was an accident. Or rather, I did. Looking at Yoruichi though, it looks more like there was a fight. Someone hit her, the bruise on her cheek looks like a slap." And then there was the one on her neck as though someone had dared to choke her, thinking about it only made Soi all the more angry. _I shouldn't have left _she realised. _I should have stayed. I should have been there._

"Yeah, there was a fight."

He was clearly determined to keep as much of this information to himself.

"How did Kaien die?" Small questions first, she figured Urahara would part with more information if it came in small dosages.

"Not too sure, I didn't catch his name," Urahara scratched at his stubble. "He attacked Yoruichi first though, and Kaien was just trying to look out for her." Urahara went on to explain about the fight, the parts that he'd seen anyway, and how Kaien had been stabbed and had bled to death.

"Did they catch the guy who did it?" She asked after a moment of silence. She hadn't known Kaien that well, despite him having been a close friend of Yoruichi's, and she wasn't too sure what she felt at the news of his death. She wasn't even sure she could muster the appropriate emotions that should dictate that she at least feel sad for Yoruichi in losing one of her closest friends.

Urahara shook his head. "All three got away. Me and Yoruichi were too preoccupied with Kaien to stop them."

A whole new thought struck Soi. "Kuukaku? Where is she?"

The look of guilt on Urahara's face intensified. "She's with her parents and Ganju. They have a lot to sort out, so I left them be."

Anger flared at his words. "The hell! You should be with her!"

"Yoruichi needs me," he replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Kuukaku needs you!" Soi retorted. Something clicked into place for Soi as she scowled at Urahara taking in his torn expression.

_He's in love with Yoruichi..._

She didn't know why she hadn't worked it out earlier it was so obvious. He didn't even attempt to hide it. And yet, even though he looked absolutely miserable and guilty and torn, she couldn't muster anything resembling compassion, she had never hated him more than she did now. How dare he be in love with Yoruichi, how dare he – though Soi didn't particularly like the woman – betray Kuukaku like that!

He shifted on his feet, scratched at his head, and managed to look guilty in a childish sort of way; more like he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar than he had been caught out emotionally betraying his own girlfriend.

"You should go be with Kuukaku," Soi told him managing to keep her tone even.

He shook his head. "I have to stay with Yoruichi," he said. "She-"

"She's not yours to look after!" Soi yelled.

He looked shocked, his eyes wide and he almost seemed to stumble back from her. She half expected him to reply, to have an answer since he was the kind of idiot who had an answer to everything; but he seemed to fold in on himself. She'd just slapped him in the face with a truth he didn't want to hear. She felt a slight flush of triumph at his defeated expression.

The door to Yoruichi's room opened and Unohana stepped out, closing it softly behind her. "You are both very loud," she informed them, disapproval evident in her tone. "And I'd appreciate it if while you are you keep your voices at a reasonable level."

Soi found herself shrinking away from the woman, from the corner of her eye she could see that Urahara had done the same thing.

"You can go in now," Unohana said.

Both Soi and Urahara straightened up at this; Soi shot him a venomous look that he either didn't notice or ignored.

"I'd like to speak to you, Urahara-San," Unohana continued. He slumped in defeat but nodded nevertheless and followed Unohana down the corridor.

Soi hurried back to Yoruichi, opening the door and letting it close behind her. Yoruichi was in the mid-process of pulling her boots on, her bare legs sticking out form her coat. Soi only just realised why Yoruichi's coat was buttoned all the way up to the neck, she clearly wasn't wearing anything – or at least very little – beneath it. Where was her dress? It was probably an unimportant detail, so Soi put it to the back of her mind. She swallowed and made her way over, opening her mouth to say something.

"I need a cigarette," Yoruichi said tonelessly before Soi could even utter a word.

"Oh," Soi managed deflating slightly. She wanted to ask Yoruichi if she was all right, but it felt like a stupid and insensitive question. But she wasn't at all sure of what the right thing to say in this situation was.

"Pass my other boot," Yoruichi pointed to the boot and Soi complied, picking it up from the ground and handing it to her. "Thanks."

"No problem," She sighed. "Look, are you... I mean... How are you...?"

"Let's go," Yoruichi said a determined look on her face.

"Oh, right," Soi followed her from the room and back up the corridor. "Is it okay for you to be just getting up and leaving like this?"

"Don't care," Yoruichi marched on ahead, her hands stuffed into her pockets and her head down.

Her coat was thin and only fell down to her mid-thigh, exposing her knees and top of her calves, and Soi was suddenly very aware of how cold it was outside. She wasn't sure what to do; should she try to persuade Yoruichi to return to her room and rest? It would be a futile effort, and she would probably only succeed in making Yoruichi annoyed with her, once Yoruichi was determined to do something nothing could dissuade her. Should she offer Yoruichi her own, much warmer, coat instead?

With a sigh she did the only thing she was sure of; she followed Yoruichi.

/\/\/\

As expected it was freezing cold outside. Soi ducked her chin behind the collar of her coat and stuffed her hands into her pockets. Yoruichi ignored the cold and marched right on out into the snow, pulling her cigarettes from her coat pocket. Soi watched as Yoruichi put one to her lips and attempted to light it.

At least the snow had lessened; earlier it had been coming down thick and fast, now though it lazily drifted down before settling on the already covered ground. Soi kicked at the snow on the ground, thankful that while it was thick it was at least dry. That didn't really help Yoruichi though; who Soi could see was already shivering as she continued trying to light her cigarette.

"Shit!" Yoruichi bellowed out suddenly, flinging her lighter to the ground. "Why do none of my lighters ever fucking work?"

Soi kept quiet, understanding that that was probably a rhetorical question. Yoruichi spat her cigarette out and kicked angrily at the snow sending great puffs of white into the air. She was shaking now, her fists clenched by her side and her jaw clenched tight. Soi tentatively moved close to her and reached out, her hand brushing against Yoruichi's arm only to have it knocked away.

"Okay," Soi muttered stepping back from Yoruichi. She waited, understanding that Yoruichi needed a moment on her own, that she wasn't used to be being comforted. Not that Soi was used to comforting someone, never mind comforting someone as fiercely independent as Yoruichi. She watched and waited until Yoruichi gave her the go ahead, keeping her distance but never moving far enough away so that Yoruichi would feel alone.

Yoruichi drew in a breath and exhaled, her whole body shuddering as she did so. Her fists were still clenched at her side and her shaking had doubled, and Soi felt herself ache at the desperate need to go to her.

"It was a stupid way to die," Yoruichi said finally, her voice thick with emotion and unsteady.

Soi raised her head, carefully watching Yoruichi. She found herself shuffling closer and had to stop herself before she completely closed the distance.

"Not that it should have mattered. He was dying anyways."

Soi's eyes widened.

..._Kaien was dying?_

Yoruichi looked up to her and then quickly looked away as though she was somehow ashamed.

"It's okay," Soi found herself saying. She closed the distance between them, her hand going to Yoruichi's, holding it. She felt so tense and so cold. "Yoruichi, its okay to be upset. It's okay to-"

"I'm not upset!" Yoruichi pulled away from Soi. "I don't need to... I'm not..." Words seemed to fail her and she buried her face in her hands. Soi could hear her breathing, heavy and uneven, her shoulders were shaking and for a moment Soi thought that she was actually crying. "... I couldn't do anything."

One hand dropped from Yoruichi's face and she circled it around herself, the other was pressed over her eyes and she was still drawing in long shaky breaths.

"It was my fault."

She said it so quietly, in such a small broken voice that Soi nearly didn't hear her. She dropped her hands to her side, her head turning to face Soi. She wasn't crying but was close; tears clearly brimmed in her eyes and her lips quivering.

"No," Soi shook her head. "No it wasn't. It wasn't your fault at all. You know it wasn't your fault so don't go doing the whole blame thing. The only person responsible for this is the one who... the one who killed Kaien. He's the one to blame, not you." _And Kaien, _she thought but kept it to herself. If Urahara's account was right, then Kaien shouldered some of the fault here as well. He shouldn't have gone back to the fallen opponent, shouldn't have dropped his guard.

Yoruichi quivered, her lips drawn back and her eyes screwed shut and a small sob escaped her. In a second Soi found herself there, found Yoruichi's face buried in her chest, her arms desperately clinging to her. Yoruichi was making strained noises, half-sobs, as though she was trying to not cry, like she was trying to keep it all inside. All Soi could hear was that Yoruichi was in pain.

And she didn't know what to do to help her.

So she did all she could do; she held her while she shook.

_It's alright..._

Yoruichi's hands were gripping the fabric of Soi's coat as she pressed herself in closer to her.

_...It's okay to cry..._

Soi's arms tightened around Yoruichi, and she leant her head against Yoruichi's, her cheek brushing against Yoruichi's hair.

"It was my fault," Yoruichi said.

Soi felt her heart break a little at the certainty in Yoruichi's voice. She shook her head, wanted to tell Yoruichi that it wasn't, but couldn't find her voice. Instead she swallowed the lump in her throat and held Yoruichi tighter, thankful that at least her shaking had lessened.

"They were after me."

Soi froze; her whole world seemed to stop.

"...What?"

"They came for me," Yoruichi worked her way out of Soi's grip and straightened up, wiping the back of her arm across her eyes. She swallowed, still shaking but more from the cold now. "I was the one they were after. They were after me."

/\/\/\

They eventually made it back to Yoruichi's room, Soi's coat now around Yoruichi's shoulders since the older woman's shivering had intensified to the point that Soi silently worried that she'd catch hypothermia. Yoruichi sat back down on the bed, pulling her boots off and tossing them away. She didn't say anything until Soi turned to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

Soi looked back over her shoulder. "I have to make a phone call," she answered. "I need to tell Kenpachi that I'm not going to be in work today."

"Right," Yoruichi nodded and turned her head away. She looked lost, sounded hurt and alone, and seemed small and fragile, and so many things that Soi wasn't used to associating with Yoruichi.

Soi crossed back over the room, took Yoruichi's hand in her own, and offered her a small smile.

"I'll be back soon," she promised. "I'll see if I can get us both some coffee while I'm out there." She leant over the bed and kissed Yoruichi before untwining her hand from Yoruichi's grip and hurrying from the room.

She hadn't been lying, not really. She did have a phone call to make, actually she had two phone calls to make and one of them was to Kenpachi. Like hell she was going to leave Yoruichi and go into work. First though, she had a much more important call to make. She needed answers.

'_...They were after me...'_

Who? There were too many questions, and no one seemed to want to give Soi the answers she craved. Urahara had proved useless; he only told her what suited him. Soi needed to ask people higher up, need to use whatever means she had at her disposal to get the answers. Because if someone was after Yoruichi and if that someone thought that they could hurt her, then they were in for a rude awakening. Soi wasn't about to let anyone hurt Yoruichi again.

She rounded a corner, found a secluded part of the hospital where she wouldn't be disturbed. She pulled her phone from her pocket, surprised that her hands were shaking a little, and dialled the number that had been branded into her memory since Christmas. Her breathing was uneven, her guts knotted up and she had to force herself to calm down, unsure why a simple phone call would make her this nervous.

But then this wasn't a simple phone call.

It was ringing. She found a part of herself hoping that no one would answer.

"Hello?" His voice sounded so familiar, soft and oddly comforting despite the fact that it should evoke the exact opposite feeling from her.

She swallowed. "Shihouin..." She couldn't finish, her voice broke, her teeth chattering.

"Ah, Shaolin," he sounded a little too pleased to hear from her. "I was wondering when you'd call. Tell me, how is Yoruichi finding the hospital?"

"You know?" She blurted.

"Of course I do, do you think I wouldn't know when my own daughter was in danger? What kind of parent do you take me for?"

Of course he knew, she mentally cursed herself. This was exactly why she'd called him, because he knew things that he shouldn't. Nothing seemed to get by him; he would have the answers she wanted, he'd just confirmed it now with his knowledge of Yoruichi's whereabouts.

"I take it then," he said in that silky voice. "That you are prepared to listen to what I have to say."

She took a moment before answering.

"Yes."

/\/\/\

It had been an odd night so far. Kira wandered down the lonely corridors of the hospital, pushing an empty trolley as he went. People often asked him if it was exciting working in the hospital, and truthfully, it wasn't. Usually his nights were dull and the only interesting thing he saw was the occasional drunk who had tripped up and injured themselves. Tonight was easily the most exciting night he had experienced.

He winced, and mentally rebuked himself, reminding himself that a man had died tonight. Not that he knew Shiba Kaien all that well, but he knew people who would be affected by his death. He thought of Kuchiki Rukia knowing that she had harboured a slight crush on the assistant manager of the Thirteenth bar for quite some time. He wondered if Renji had known this, or if Ichigo did.

It was the end of his shift, and he had just made his way to the locker room. He abandoned the trolley not really caring what happened to it since it was empty, and opened the door stepping inside the locker room. It was thankfully empty, some of the other porters and orderlies had a tendency to tease him and he couldn't be bothered to put up with them tonight. Not that it really bothered him, it was just annoying and at the end of a long shift where he had had to see so many people he cared about looking so lost and upset, he didn't think he could handle it with his usual grace.

"Hello Izuru."

Kira spun round, his heart hammering in his chest at the sudden voice. From the shadows emerged a very familiar face.

"Ichimaru..." Kira trailed off as Gin walked calmly from the shadows towards him.

"I was wonderin' if ya could, me a favour," Gin's ever present smile widened. "Kira Izuru."

Kira swallowed, feeling strangely happy to see this man, and he found himself nodding to his request. Whatever it might be.

* * *

**Oh, Soi, you silly sausage... And Kira too (but we already knew that he's a silly sausage) **

**On another note – holy crap, this chapter was hard to write! I think I'm happy with the way it turned out though. I think. Often when I re-read chapters I hate them. Especially the first and second which I really need to re-write. **

**Anyways – thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. I'd like to say that this is as depressing as it's going to get but we'd all know that I'd be lying -_- **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think.**


	20. In Trust of No One

**This chapter is way longer than I thought it would be. It's also a bit of an information dump – hopefully it isn't over whelming and works.**

**

* * *

**

In Trust of No One

Soi could feel Yoruichi's eyes on her as she dressed. Once this would have bothered her, she would have told Yoruichi not to look or she simply would have exited the room and dressed in the bathroom where she could maintain the false illusion of modesty. These days she didn't bother, she let Yoruichi watch her. After all, the woman had seen her naked before, had seen her in an exposed state that went beyond naked, and though the thought still brought a slight blush to her features it wasn't the all consuming burn that it once was. Soi figured that it was a good sign that Yoruichi wanted to watch her dress, or undress, it meant she still saw something, still found Soi attractive. Soi would only start worrying the day when – if – Yoruichi stopped watching her.

It was still pretty early and Soi was pretty surprised that Yoruichi was awake at all. Though these days, Yoruichi seemed to wake when Soi did. That didn't mean that she got up when Soi did, the Goddess either went back to sleep once Soi had left or she simply laid in bed. These past few days, Yoruichi only seemed to manage to drag herself from bed and to the couch, where she spent the day face down and ignoring the world. Kaien's death had hit her harder than Soi had first thought. Not that Soi had expected Yoruichi to just get over it, but she had at least expected her to be functional.

Sighing, Soi stood up and grabbed her jacket pulling it on and taking the time to flick her braids out from it, she straightened the sleeve over her elbow support. It annoyed her when it bunched and caught on it, probably impeding her movements. She then zipped the jacket up, it was cold outside and she had no desire to catch a chill.

She turned and her eyes locked on Yoruichi's watching her from her cocoon of an overly thick duvet. Soi smiled slightly. "I won't be long," she said.

"I'd rather you didn't go at all," Yoruichi answered her voice soft.

Soi was slightly surprised that Yoruichi had spoken, the last few days she had taken to communicating through grunts, pointed looks and the odd hand gesture. Perhaps Yoruichi was ready to start acting human again. It almost made Soi want to stay with her; but she knew she had to get out of the apartment. The past few days hadn't been easy and being around Yoruichi's constant fugue had been draining to say the least. Soi felt guilty for thinking this way but she needed this moment to herself, she needed to go outside and feel the fresh air on her skin, and to clear her own head.

"An hour at most," Soi told her.

"Urgh!" Yoruichi retreated beneath the covers. "Just go already. Identifying your corpse will give me something to do this afternoon."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Soi muttered.

Admittedly, she and Yoruichi often bickered about Soi's Parkour jumping, but they usually managed to keep a humoured tone. Yoruichi just sounded a mixture of angry and disappointed now, and it made Soi feel guilty that she was making Yoruichi worry about her. Guilt was a feeling Soi was fast growing used to.

With another sigh, Soi moved over to the bed and leaned over Yoruichi giving her a gentle shove. "Oi," She forced a smile and tried to make her tone sound teasing. "Aren't you going to say good-bye to me?"

Yoruichi's fingers curled over the edge of the cover and she pulled it down revealing her face. "No," she said stubbornly.

"Fine," Soi pecked her on the cheek and stood to leave.

"You'll fall."

Soi stared down at Yoruichi in surprise. She sounded so certain, like she was absolutely convinced that Soi would fall. She had never before said anything about Soi falling, though Soi knew she worried about it, they had always skirted around the subject. Yoruichi had always trusted her in her abilities.

"Hmph!" Soi folded her arms and tossed her head to the side. "Not likely."

Yoruichi didn't say anything. Soi looked down and felt something tug at her conscience. Yoruichi didn't look worried she just looked sad. All the light and warmth seemed to have gone from her eyes.

"Hmm," Soi tilted her head to the side. There were a number of ways for her to deal with the way Yoruichi was acting. She could coddle her, climb back in bed and sooth her worries by staying in with her, or she could be reassuring and tell Yoruichi that she would be fine which would allow her to still go out running.

She decided on neither.

She smirked, letting her arrogance show. "I never fall," she stated as though it was absolute fact. She leant down and kissed Yoruichi purposefully hard on the mouth, cockiness still evident on her features. "I trust you'll still be here when I get back." Her eyes scanned the bed and Yoruichi hidden beneath the quilt her lips still hitched into an arrogant and somewhat suggestive smirk.

This was where Yoruichi should have had an equally suggestive smirk to her own features, where she should made a quip and forcibly dragged Soi back into bed. Soi wished that she would, at least then the older woman would be acting more like herself. Yoruichi eyed Soi; the usual warmth was still absent from her golden orbs and without it they looked closer to topaz.

"Enjoy your run," Yoruichi said before burrowing back down beneath the covers.

Soi sighed and turned on her heel. She exited the room without another word.

/\/\/\

The air was cold on Soi's skin, it bit into her cheeks and brought tears to her eyes. She hadn't gone far; setting off at a light jog to get to her destination. It made more sense for her to get her blood pumping and her muscles loosened and used to the pace with a jog than to jump right into the route she had planned in her mind. If it could even be called a route, since it was actually a straight line cutting across the city. In her mind's eye she could already see her destination, she knew exactly where to go, which parts of the buildings she would cross this morning.

She rounded a corner, feet thudding at a steady beat on the tarmac, never faltering despite the less than desirable conditions. The grime of the city had contaminated the pure white snow. Mounds of grey slush were lined at the side of buildings. The snow had only lasted a couple of days; it had only taken a night for it to be stained with the filth of city. It was a shame; Soi liked the snow, especially real snow that was light and closer to powder.

She shook her head. She came out here to stop thinking, and that include thinking about snow. Though she knew she should be aware of it, the conditions were less than desirable for what she planned on doing.

She pushed on, her destination wasn't that far from here and she'd be able to start her real workout. She frowned as a shadow stepped out in front her blocking the end of the street. Slowing she came to a stop. There was a man, dressed smartly in a long thick black coat blocking her way.

"Fon Shaolin?" The voice came from behind.

She spun round; yet another man was there also dressed in a thick black coat. He smiled at her, though it didn't reach his eyes and she had the distinct impression that he wasn't all that used to smiling.

"Can I help you?" She asked. Her legs tensed and she readied herself to either fight or flee.

"I should think so," he answered walking slowly towards her. "We have a car waiting if you'd like to come with us."

_What? _She scowled at him. "I'm not going anywhere with you," she could sense that the first man was also closing the gap; she was trapped between the two. "Who are you?"

"Our names are not important."

"How do you know my name?" Her eyes flickered to the side; she could see the metal railing of a fire escape. She figured she could scale it before either of them could reach her.

"It would easier on all of us if you'd come quietly," he stopped and held his hands out before him. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Like you could," the arrogant remark left her lips before she even had a chance to think of a retort. Mentally she cursed herself. _What if they are armed? _She shouldn't antagonise them, but despite knowing this she couldn't dispel the cock-sure grin that had carved up her face.

He seemed slightly amused by that. "Now Fon-San," he gave her a condescending smile. "I'm sure you're quite an able young woman, but you should know that I am armed." He patted his side as he said the last part.

She'd figured as much. She straightened up, forcing her muscles to relax slightly. "Pointless. You've already said that you're not going to hurt me. So even if you are armed I see no reason for it to matter, since you've already proven that you won't use it."

"Perhaps I was lying when I said that I wouldn't hurt you."

Her head cocked to the side. "You won't. I can see it in your eyes. If I refuse to go with you, then there is nothing you can do to force me." She turned away from him. "I'm not going anywhere with you." She set off walking, deliberately keeping her pace slow. Her heart was hammering in her chest but she refused to show these two that they had rattled her. She only hoped that she was right in her ascertains that they wouldn't hurt her.

The first man grabbed her bicep bringing her to a stop. She glared at him and he stared impassively back.

"Let go," She growled.

"My apologies," he replied. "But our Boss was insistent that you join him. And just so we're clear, I _will_ use force." His fingers dug painfully into her arm as if to emphasis his point.

She continued to glare at him not trusting herself to speak in case she said something to provoke them further. She could see in his eyes that he was serious, that if he felt he had to he would use force. Not that she didn't feel confident in her own abilities to defend herself; she just didn't really want to be forced to. Despite what people seemed to think of her, she didn't actually enjoy fighting all that much and she certainly didn't enjoy hurting people. Besides, if the other goon was telling the truth, then she had to assume that this guy was also armed.

He'd hurt her yes; kill her no. It was beside the point, if he were to hit her with whatever he was armed with then it would do serious damage. Oddly guilt filtered its way to the surface of her emotions; for some absurd reason she felt guilty about what she'd tell Yoruichi. She felt guilty for making her worry. And she felt scared that if something did happen to her, then how would that affect Yoruichi?

She felt strong hands on her shoulders, gripping them firmly and holding her in place. She cursed under her breath at her own carelessness. How had she let him get that close to her?

"Shihouin-Sama was quite insistent that he should speak with you."

_Shihouin..? _She held back an annoyed growl as she realised who these two represented. _He could have just phoned and arranged a meeting instead of kidnapping me..._

"Fine," she wrenched herself from both their grips. "I'll go with you." She straightened out her jacket, taking her time to prove to them that they had failed in rattling her. She was almost positive that they meant no harm, but still...

_Sorry Yoruichi... Guess I'll be longer than I thought..._

/\/\/\

She had been gently man-handled into a car; firmly squashed between the two men, a third man drove them away. Luckily the traffic wasn't too bad and it only took three hours to reach the Shihouin estate outside of the city. The snow here was pure and white, laying unspoiled in the surrounding area. The Shihouin estate was made up of several buildings; the main building stood in the centre surrounding by much smaller houses that Soi assumed were either used by servants or had once been used by family. Soi knew that the Shihouin patriarch and his daughter were the last to carry the family name.

Climbing out of the car, Soi followed one of her 'escorts' up the steps and into the main building where she was greeted by an older man.

"Shoes."

"I know, I know," Soi muttered before bending down and slipping her shoes from her feet. She set them neatly to the side, noticing that hers were the only shoes there.

"This way," the man said taking her gently by the arm; he led her across the hallway. "There are certain rules that you have to follow. First! You must always speak to the master with respect. Second! You mustn't make eye contact with him. Third! You must only refer to him as Shihouin-Dono or Shihouin-Sama, anything else will be seen as an act of impudence and you will be removed."

She nodded not trusting herself to speak. She was a little unsure if she would stutter since she suddenly found herself feeling nervous, or if she would be unable to stop herself from pointing out the ridiculous nature of the whole event.

She was led to a room on the ground floor; it was a long narrow room that, unlike the rest of the manor, was traditional in its decor. _Tatami _covered the floor and she stopped just short of where the mats started. Across the room she could make out small table, low to the ground with several sheets of paper laid out across it. A thin brush was set next to the paper and a pot of ink next to that.

_Calligraphy? Is this a study? _She looked around her. On closer inspection she found herself scowling at the room. She had assumed that the room was a _Washitsu_, but now that she looked at it properly she could see that it was only designed to look like one. The _tatami_ was real, but the _shoji_ at the end of the room, and upon turning to look behind her, the shoji which she had entered through were actually only imitations. Her scowl intensified, as she inspected the walls, they were imitations _fusumas_. The pretention of the room annoyed her for some reason, though she couldn't really decide why. "Wait here," the man who had escorted her in the room let go of her arm and turned to leave. She had actually forgotten that he was there despite his grip on her arm. Sighing, Soi moved further into the room, her scowl still in place. Because the _fusuma _was false no light filtered through it and the room was dimly illuminated by the small hanging lamps from the low ceiling.

"I'd have thought scowling like that would induce a headache."

Soi spun round, heart hammering in her chest. Across the room and standing behind the low table stood a man dressed in a kimono. He cocked his head to the side as he considered her. His hair was longer than necessary and brushed back from his face, flecks of grey dotted throughout it. He was thin, thinner than Soi had thought. His skin was surprisingly pale, and looked loose as though he had lost weight recently and very suddenly. His eyes though, she couldn't deny his eyes; even from across the room she could make out that unnatural gold glinting in the dim light that seemed to be trait belonging only to the Shihouin's.

"Fon Shaolin," he smiled at her and gestured to the table. "Please, join me."

She stood rigid, unable to move. She had seen pictures of him of course, but he didn't look anything like them. Every photograph she had seen of the Shihouin patriarch showed a powerful man, broad across the shoulders, tall and powerful. This man was small and thin, his wrinkled hands trembled, and his face was sallow and his eyes sunken with dark rings beneath them. This man was weak!

"Child, if you stand there with your mouth open like that then you are like to catch flies in it."

Her mouth snapped shut. She hadn't even realised that it was open; her jaw must have dropped when he had walked into the room. She swallowed and then frowned in confusion. His voice was completely different to his appearance; soft and uncompromising, his tone suggested that he wasn't just used to having people do as he said, but that he didn't think that anyone would ever dare do otherwise. She nodded once, more to herself then to him, and made her way towards the table. She waited patiently for him to settle before kneeling down herself, a little way off so that she was just out of arms reach of it.

"Now then, Shaolin," he started, his fingers moving the sheets of paper across the table so that he had three set out before him. "Did you learn calligraphy as a child?"

The odd question caught her off guard and she found her mouth hanging open again. "I uh, I was taught as a child. I studied it at school and my _nǎi nai_, uh, grandmother taught me also." She was stuttering on her words, finding it hard to formulate her sentences. It had been a long time since she's actually had to sit and actively think of what she was trying to say. And it had been a very long time since she'd unconsciously dropped back into her mother tongue.

"Care to demonstrate?"

Had he dragged her out here just to have her write? It all seemed so completely pointless.

"I was never very good at it," she said truthfully. "My grandmother always said that I didn't have the patience required for it."

"Interesting," was this some sort of test? "Yoruichi was always very good at calligraphy. Though I don't think she enjoyed it. Like you, she lacked the patience required to perfect the skill. A shame, had she applied herself then she would have easily perfected the skill."

Soi kept quiet, she didn't understand why he was talking about something so utterly pointless. Hadn't he brought her out here because he wanted something from her? Hadn't she allowed herself to be dragged out here because she wanted something? Was she just going to let him control the conversation? She scowled down at her knees, he was trying to distract her, she decided.

"Shihouin-Sama, I-"

"Masaru," he interjected.

"Uh... What?"

"You may call me by my given name," He sounded pleasantly amused. "After all, I am calling you by your given name. It seems only fair that you should call me by mine also."

"That seems inappropriate."

"I insist."

"Okay, if that is what you want," her fingers were fidgeting in her lap and she forced them to still.

"You're very twitchy."

She looked up at him, saw those golden eyes regarding her and she looked away. What had the servant said? Don't look Shihouin-Sama in the eye? He still sounded amused though, in a light hearted way, as though he was enjoying a child's efforts at acting an adult. She felt annoyed at herself. It was ridiculous how easily she was losing her composure.

"Considering your relationship with my daughter I feel that we should be able to speak to one another, not as equals, but near enough."

She felt her cheeks heat up at that. How much, exactly, did he know about her and Yoruichi's relationship? She glanced up at him, trying not to make eye contact but her eyes were drawn to his.

_They're just like Yoruichi's _She thought sadly. The colour was anyways, Shihouin Masaru's eyes lacked the warmth that usually radiated from his daughter's. His eyes were cold. There was bound to be some physical similarities between them. She didn't understand why it should make her feel so disappointed to see that there was.

"I must confess, you are not what I was expecting," He said, a thin finger tapping against his chin as he watched her. "I had expected you to be much like the rest of your family. Yet, you are quite different."

"You know my family?"

"Vaguely," He unscrewed the cap on the ink pot and set them both neatly to the side. "I had some business with them quite some time ago, years ago in fact. My own father very nearly bought your family out and it was only thanks to your grandmother being quite an astute business woman that he didn't. She saved your family's company. I was only a child when I met her, but even I understood that though she never accompanied her husband into delegations, and though she kept her silence when the men were talking, that she was the real brains behind the family. That she was the real power." He raised his head and regarded Soi. "You look like her."

"I don't see the resemblance," Soi said quickly. It was true, she didn't. Her own father often told her that she looked like her grandmother, but when she looked at pictures of the woman she was forced to disagree. The only similarity she could make out was their height, or lack thereof.

"People very rarely do see whom they take after," he murmured. "Yoruichi was fortunate enough to take after her mother in appearance. Thankfully though, she doesn't appear to have taken after her in personality or in brains. She would have been quite useless to me otherwise."

Soi felt cold all of a sudden. His words scared her; did he see Yoruichi as a tool to be used to his benefit?

"This is beside the point though," he continued, his trembling fingers picked up the brush and he raised it to his eyes so that he could inspect the bristles. "I have very little interest in your family, past my interest in you, Shaolin. And you do interest me."

"I'm not really that interesting-"

"Interesting enough to hold Yoruichi's attention," He plucked at the bristles and then rubbed his finger and thumb together, flicking away the odd strands that he had pulled out. "Interesting enough that she would risk breaking my agreement with her."

_Agreement? _She hadn't known anything about an agreement between Yoruichi and him. She had been under the impression that Yoruichi disliked her father and refused to speak to him.

"I understand," Masaru continued, dipping the brush carefully into the ink. "That you work for the Gotei 13. You worked for Yoruichi first and now you work at..?"

"The Eleventh bar," she answered.

"It isn't often that they transfer their workers from one bar to the other. Usually their contracts are terminated. They must have seen something special in you to keep you around."

"Hardly," She could feel herself scowling again. "I'm sure they just feel that I'm a hard worker."

He laughed at that. "Oh yes, hard workers are what they're looking for," He raised his eyes and met hers. "Tell me, what exactly do you know about the Gotei 13?"

Still with these ridiculous questions! She wasn't sure if he was mocking her or not, or if this was his strange way of getting to know her. She felt like she was being played, manipulated, but she didn't know how or to what end.

"Well, that they were founded by Yamamoto quite some time ago, that often that bars are tied to powerful families such as the Sixth bar which I understand has been run by the Kuchiki's since it was first built. If I'm to be believe rumour, then some of the bars are run by those who are indebted to Yamamoto and-"

"Enough!" Masaru waved his hand dismissively at her. "I have heard enough. Clearly there has been some sort of misunderstanding here. I was lead to believe that you were intelligent, that you're a quick thinker, logical and precise. It appears that my sources have misinformed me."

"What?" She hissed unable to contain her anger. What did he want from her? He had asked her a question and she had answered it. What more could she do?

"I see now that you are nothing more than a brash child who makes impulsive decision based on her emotions," he shook his head as though he was actually disappointed in her. "What you just explained to me about the Gotei 13 is common knowledge. Any resident of Tokyo could have explained the exact same thing. If that is your understanding of the bars and of Yamamoto then you are not at all what I was expecting and you serve no further use to me."

She gritted her teeth in anger, her hands clenched her jeans so tightly that the whites of her knuckles showed and she could feel the strain of the newly healed split across the middle knuckle of right hand. She exhaled a shaky breath and fought to bring her anger under control.

"What would you have me say?" She managed to say, her voice shaking from the anger she felt. "Would you have me say that the Gotei 13 is a pretentious protection racket? That Yamamoto holds the heirs to influential families' hostage? That he consolidated power in the city by offering false protection from an imaginary threat? Is that what you wanted me to say?"

He didn't answer. Slowly, and precisely, he placed the tip of the brush in his hand to the paper, swooping it across the sheet and leaving a long black curve. He continued with his motions, marking the sheet with something that Soi couldn't make out from this angle. She reasoned though that she had said what he wanted to hear since he was no longer insulting her.

"False protection from an imaginary threat," he repeated. "What an odd choice of words. What is this imaginary threat?"

"There isn't a threat at all. There is no need for the protection from Yamamoto. He makes easy money by exploiting the irrational fears of the rich who have no idea how the real world works."

"Interesting. What an interesting child you are."

"Hardly. I just understand that-"

"You understand nothing!" Masaru flicked the brush in his hand splattering dots of ink across the paper and the table. A single drop landed on Soi's hand and she stared at it. "Imaginary threat? Ha! There is very little that is imaginary that threatens our families, that threaten our companies, our empires!"

He sounded a bit mad. Soi found herself shuffling back eager to increase the distance between them. She wondered if megalomania was a genetic trait among the Shihouin's. Would Yoruichi one day hold such grand delusions over her 'empire'? Probably not, she seemed to be more grounded than this man here.

"They protect our image," Masaru placed the brush down calmly. "Image is everything. You can be the stupidest man in the world so long as everyone believes that you are intelligent. You can be a selfish beyond all comparable belief and have the world think you are generous. Our whole lives are constructed from fiction. The Gotei 13 protects that fiction. They protect our image, they reinforce our image and above all else they guide us in altering our image to suit what the world expects from us." He stared at her, his eyes hard and cold. "No one, and I mean no one, must ever realise that we are capable of human fallacy. We are above that. We are as close to gods as you are ever likely to find."

_He's completely insane _Soi had to resist the urge to voice her thoughts. Shihouin Masaru was turning out to be nothing like she had expected. He appeared weak, sounded powerful and ranted like a mad man. How could this lunatic help her in protecting Yoruichi?

He laughed softly. "I think that you doubt me," He placed his hands on the table and pushed himself up to his feet. "Image is what protects us. Were our public image unfavourable then other companies would not wish to do business with us. It is all very simple really. The Shiba's are only just finding out now what it means to have their image sullied."

"The Shiba's?" She looked up to him. "Because of Kaien's death? He was murdered. I fail to see how that could cast them in an unfavourable light."

"And it wouldn't. Truth be told, Kaien getting himself murdered might have been what would save them," Again he laughed. "They're bankrupt, though they refuse to admit it. Kaien was desperately trying to hold it all together. He might have succeeded, given time, though I personally doubt it." He laughed ruefully. "But what a story it would have made for them! The tragic death of the prodigal son cruelly cut down in his prime. Only for the daughter to rise above it and rescue the company and restore respect to the family name. No, it wasn't Shiba Kaien's death that has ruined his family but his foolish actions in life. One little mistake and so many plans ruined." He shook his head and sighed. "No matter, what's done is done and there are other plans to consider. I wish for some fresh air. You will join me outside."

"Wha... wait!" Soi jumped to her feet, but Masaru ignored her and walked from the room. Slowly, feeling very confused and still vaguely angry, Soi stood up and turned from the room.

/\/\/\

It didn't take her long to make her way outside. In her hurry she had merely pulled on her shoes and was now knelt down in the snow tying her laces. It had started to snow again, only lightly though and she doubted that it would settle in the city but out here it would no doubt start to pile up. Standing up she shook her head, dispelling the odd flake that had landed in her hair.

"Finished?" Shihouin Masaru made his way over to her, wrapped up warm. "Won't you be cold? That jacket doesn't look too warm."

"I'll be fine, Shihouin-Sama," she replied.

He raised an eye brow at her; the gesture reminded her of Yoruichi.

"Uh, Masaru-San," she mumbled in correction, the too familiar address feeling odd. She cleared her throat. "You were telling me about Shiba Kaien." She was curious as to what Kaien had done to somehow earn disrespect, to have possibly shamed his own family. She had never heard anything other than compliments for the man.

"I was," he agreed and set off walking, she fell in step behind him. "I had planned on him and Yoruichi marrying."

"Yes, I know," Soi said. "She said that because she was an only child the deal fell through."

"Yes, that is what the general public think," He replied. "Truthfully it mattered little to me. When my wife died I made the decision not to remarry and for Yoruichi to be my heir. I had no doubts that Yoruichi would make an outstanding head of the family, that she could easily run the company. All she needed was the right man to support her. In my mind, Shiba Kaien was that man. I had planned on adopting him into the family, he would take our name and our family line could continue. The Shiba's had another son who could continue their line, all would work out."

"I doubt the Shiba's would want their first-born son to be married into another family."

"Of course they wouldn't, but what choice would they have had? I was in the process of buying them out bit-by-bit," he smiled over his shoulder at Soi. "They were already facing ruin; I would offer them a way to save themselves. Their company in everything but name would belong to me. I would let their second son retain his rights within the company and in public, so long as he answered to me. They would save face and retain a semblance of their wealth. All I asked was that Kaien marry Yoruichi and take our family name. Simple. Easy. I think even Yoruichi would have seen the sense in it and agreed."

Soi couldn't argue with that, hadn't Yoruichi said that she sometimes wondered how different her life might have been had she married Kaien? The thought of Yoruichi being with Kaien made her feel faintly sick.

Masaru laughed suddenly, loudly, and stopped walking. He turned to face Soi. "I am surprised that you are not objecting. Doesn't it upset you to think of her married off?"

Soi shrugged. "It's a hypothetical situation. I see no need for me to be angry about it." Besides, she had already discussed this with Yoruichi. She knew Yoruichi's feeling on this possible situation. "It never happened. It won't ever happen."

"True. And I suppose Kaien being who he was would have allowed Yoruichi certain ... indulgences..." He said it with distaste and for the briefest moment disgust filtered across his features as his eyes scanned her.

Soi's anger returned ten-fold and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying anything. This man switched from being reasonable to insulting at such a quick pace she wasn't sure how to react. She couldn't risk making him angry with her though, and have him throw her out. She needed his knowledge, he knew who was after Yoruichi, and she needed his help in protecting her. So she swallowed down her anger and forced her hands to unclench, though she could still feel her muscles quivering with fury at his words.

"Have I upset you?" He queried, sounding genuinely curious. "Did you think I didn't know exactly what your relationship with my daughter is? I know all about it. You and Yoruichi's perversions are beside the point. I was talking about Kaien..."

He was still speaking but Soi couldn't hear him. She couldn't hear anything besides the thumping in her ears as her fury at his words burned away all rational thought. But underneath that, underneath her shock and anger, she felt hurt. It was stupid! Why had she let his words bother her? She should have been above this. She didn't care what he thought, she didn't care about this man at all - he was nothing to her! So why had she let him cut her like that?

"Child!" He bellowed.

Soi raised her head; Masaru was standing quite a distance away a lone figure against the white-grey sky.

"I think that it would be in your best interests if you kept up!"

She bit back a retort and stalked after him, hands clenched at her sides. In her mind she saw herself running to him. Saw herself kicking his weak legs out from under him. Saw her foot slice through the air and strike him in the head, staining the expanse of white canvas around them red with his –

She froze. Shock coursed through her system as she replayed the violent image through her mind once again. She slowly raised her eyes to him, noting that he was staring at her with a mixture of annoyance and exasperation etched on his craggy face.

"It is too cold to be dawdling child," he said before turning and continuing on his way. "I will not repeat myself. What you missed there is now forever lost to you."

Her shoulders drooped at this. All because she was stupid enough to let his words anger her she had missed out on valuable information. She hurried up to catch up with him not wanting to miss anything else, forcing any other violent thoughts out of her mind.

"It was my mistake to allow Yoruichi to spend so much time with the Shiba's," He explained. "I had thought that spending time with a girl close in age to her would prove beneficial. The Shiba's though were happily encouraging their children to be free-thinkers or some other such nonsense. They allowed them to run wild and failed to teach them respect. Or self-control."

Soi didn't really think that this man should ever be in the position to question anyone's parenting skills, but she kept her mouth shut.

"Their daughter abandoned them as soon as she was able," He continued. "As soon as the word marriage was brought up she fled. I doubt that they would have forced it on her, only forcefully suggested it. Their youngest son followed soon after, though I doubt that it was marriage that made him leave more so that he was a disappointment to them."

"I don't understand what the Shiba's troubles have to do with Yoruichi?" Soi said. She didn't really want to hear about the Shiba's or their dramatics. As far as she was concerned family matters should stay within the family, and should not be the subject of idle gossip.

He sighed loudly and stopped walking. "It has to do with their image," he turned to face her. "They were already struggling with their business, and now their family struggles were public knowledge. No one wanted to become involved with them."

"Yet you still wanted Yoruichi to marry Kaien."

"Their problems only worked in my favour," he smiled. "At least that was until I received a bit of news about Kaien. Did it never strike you as odd that he wasn't married? Even if their business was failing, the Shiba name still carried enough respect that anyone should be happy to have their daughter marry him. Top of his class, handsome, well mannered – Shiba Kaien was golden! He had everything going for him. So tell me, Shaolin, why was he unmarried?"

How should she know? "He was still young, there was plenty of time for him to marry," she reasoned though she also knew that it was odd for a man Kaien's age to be unmarried. She could remember Yoruichi saying something about Kaien and marriage, that he should have asked a girl to marry him. The memory was vague though, she hadn't really been paying attention at the time.

Masaru was giving her an odd look. "You don't know. How strange, I would have thought that Yoruichi would have told you."

'_... He was dying anyways...' _

Yoruichi's words rang in her mind. Kaien was dying.

"Have you not even seen the papers? It's all out now. Kaien's shame."

She shook her head. "I haven't seen the papers. I don't really pay attention to them anyway."

He sighed. "Shiba Kaien, prodigal son, had HIV."

"Wha... what?" Soi stared at him. "No. He couldn't have been. He wasn't, I mean..."

"It was a closely guarded secret," Masaru explained. "Not many knew. I did, through my sources. I believe the Kuchiki's knew as well. And of course the Gotei 13 knew. It was their job to ensure that it remained secret."

She swallowed. "Yoruichi knew?"

"Of course she did. Kaien was, after all, one of her closet friends," He shifted on his feet, obviously feeling the cold. "Are you surprised that she didn't tell you? Why would she? It was none of your business."

"It wasn't her secret to tell," Soi mumbled to herself remembering Yoruichi's words on New Year. She was still shocked, unsure exactly what she was supposed to feel at this revelation. "He looked so healthy."

"And now it is all out in the open," Masaru said, satisfaction evident in his voice. "The Shiba's are completely ruined. They will never recover from this scandal."

"If the Gotei 13 were supposed to be keeping this secret, if they were supposed to be protecting Kaien, then how did it become public knowledge?"

"How indeed," Masaru murmured. "I don't know. I doubt even the Gotei 13 knows. It is very embarrassing for them though. And now you, and everyone else, know why Kaien was unmarried."

"That's all very sad for the Shiba's, but what does it have to do with Yoruichi?" She really couldn't care about Kaien right now, all she wanted to know was how this all affected Yoruichi.

"People are going to question why she isn't married."

"I doubt they'll draw the same conclusions," Soi argued seeing where his line of thought was going.

He was silent for a moment. His lips moved as though he was chewing on something that he didn't like the taste of. Finally with a slight sigh he spoke. "The easiest way to rectify this would be for Yoruichi to marry. And quickly. It would put an end to any unwanted rumours."

Even though Soi had partially been expecting Masaru to take this line of thought his words still managed to knock the wind out of her. It was such an archaic way of thinking, and it was also completely absurd.

"She wouldn't do it," she stated calmly. "Even if you found a suitable candidate she wouldn't go through with it."

"True. And I have you to thanks for that," His head tilted back and he looked up to the sky for a moment before returning his golden gaze to Soi. "She and I have had an agreement for some time now. The agreement is to protect our family's image. I had hoped for some time that it was a phase, that she was doing it just to annoy me. It wouldn't be the first time she had done something so blindingly stupid or perverse just to make my life miserable but," he sighed and shook his head. "Apparently she is serious about her ... preferences..."

Soi stayed quiet, she unsure of what she should say and was afraid that anything she would say would cause him to stop talking. It all seemed too trivial, but she knew that here must be a point to him telling her all this. It was all hard to follow though, he switched subject at random, talked at length about nonsense that didn't seem to matter. The only conclusion she could draw so far was that Shihouin Masaru wasn't all there in the head.

"I don't care what she does behind closed doors," He stated calmly. "Everyone has their vices, and hers, though morally questionable and socially unacceptable-"

Soi stiffened at this statement.

"—are not as bad as others. The agreement was that I would pay no heed to her dirty little secret, so long as it remained just that," He glared at her as he spoke. "A secret."

"You make it sound like she has something to be ashamed of."

"Doesn't she?"

"No!" She retorted feeling outraged. "She doesn't have anything to be ashamed of. It's perfectly-"

He laughed cutting her off. "I had no idea you were such a hypocrite."

"What?"

"Nothing to be ashamed of? Have you told your own family? Do your parents know that their daughter is a filthy little-"

"Shut up!"

"Of course they don't," He finished a smug smirk plastered on his saggy face.

He was right though, she hadn't told her parents. One of her brother's knew and that was it. She didn't dare tell her father for fear of what he'd do.

Her breathing was unsteady. "It's different. My family are very traditional." Why was she making excuses? She shouldn't have said anything.

Masaru shook his head, smug look still firmly in place. "I think, Shaolin, that we have exhausted this particular conversation," He sighed. "And the day wears on. You must be wondering why I wanted to speak to you."

She swallowed, and took moment to calm herself before speaking. "I was beginning to suspect that it was just so you could insult me."

"Well that was enjoyable, but no," He started walking again back in the direction of the house. "I still intend for Yoruichi to inherit the company and I don't want anything to get in the way of that. For this to work I need our agreement to remain intact. She has already come close to breaking it. I want no more public displays from the pair of you. Our investors will not react well to it."

Had he brought her out here just so he could implement rules over hers and Yoruichi's relationship?

"To quell any malicious rumours I am going to give Yoruichi more responsibility within the company, hopefully if she is seen taking a more active role then people won't assume the worst. And this is where you come in," He stopped again; they were at the bottom of the steps leading into the main house. "I don't believe that the attack on the Thirteenth bar was an accident. It was a part of something bigger but I don't know what."

Did he know that they were after Yoruichi? That Kaien's murder wasn't the intent of the attackers? They still hadn't caught the one responsible, and the Gotei 13 seemed to be trying to keep the police out of it, seeing the situation as something for them to be sorting.

"I don't believe that Yoruichi is safe," Masaru said, echoing Soi's own thoughts. "And when I give her more power within the company I think she will be in even greater danger." He raised his trembling hands and gazed at them. "Everything is moving so quickly and I don't have the time..." His voice was faint and Soi was unsure if he intended for her to hear his words. He dropped his hands to his sides and exhaled. "I want you to watch her."

"Watch her?" Soi repeated. "Why? You want me to spy on her?"

"There is a difference between spy and watch. Though in watching her I want you to report back to me and tell me how she is doing."

"That's spying!" Soi yelled. "I'm not doing that! It's wrong."

"Is it wrong for a father to want to know that his daughter is safe and well?"

No, it wasn't. Soi certainly wasn't under the impression that that was all Masaru wanted. He'd want information on Yoruichi, even if it was just small stuff about what she did in her day. It was spying and it was wrong.

She shook her head. "I won't do it."

"I will of course compensate you..."

"I don't want your money!" That would make it worse.

He regarded her with a questioning look. "I am interested then, Shaolin, why you came out here to see me if you are unwilling to listen to what I request."

He made it sound like it was her choice to be dragged out here.

"What is it that you hoped to gain from this encounter?" He asked.

That was easy – information. She wanted to know who was trying to hurt Yoruichi, she wanted to stop it from ever happening again, and she wanted to protect Yoruichi. He didn't have the information she wanted.

"You can't help me," she said. She felt suddenly cold and her hands rubbed at her arms. "I thought that you could, but..." She shook her head. "I wanted to know who it was at New Year who attacked Yoruichi. You don't know."

"And what would you have done with the information? Would you have hunted them down? Killed them?"

Would she? Now that he said it out loud she wasn't' entirely sure what she would have done with the information. She thought of the bruise along Yoruichi's neck. It was fading now, but the mark was still there, reminding her that she hadn't been there, that she had failed in protecting her. If she had been there, then she would have stopped him. She would have killed him for even trying to hurt Yoruichi.

Her eyes widened at that last thought. _Would_ she have killed him?

"Yes, I see it now," Masaru was giving her a calculating look. "_He_ was right. You are exactly what I am looking for."

"Who was right?"

"Shaolin," His voice had a no-nonsense business-like tone to it. "I am not asking that you spy on my daughter, her business is her own, and frankly I don't want to know what she does in private. I ask that you watch her. Keep her safe. What happened to Kaien is only the beginning. The year will be long and it will be hard."

'_... They were after me...'_

Soi took a long shaky breath; her hands stilled and she stopped trying to rub warmth back into her arms.

"I will share whatever information I learn about the incident with you," he held out his hand. "I would appreciate it though, if every once in a while you let me know how Yoruichi is getting on. She doesn't see the need to soothe an old man's worries."

Soi eyed his outstretched hand, unsure of what to do. They both wanted the same thing didn't they? And it wasn't as though she would be sharing private information about Yoruichi with him. Actually, she'd hardly be telling him anything at all. He'd be providing _her_ with information. But Yoruichi hated this man. How would the Goddess react to know that Soi had met with him?

Soi's hand raised and she reached out for Masaru's.

Would Yoruichi hate her for agreeing to this? She'd be better able to protect her with his help.

She grasped his hand and shook it.

"A firm handshake," he complimented with a smirk. "That is always a good sign."

"Whatever," Soi mumbled.

"Would you like some tea?" He enquired suddenly.

"No," Soi shook her head. "I wouldn't." She felt numb. It surprised her; she thought that the guilt of what she had just done would be all consuming.

"Deals should always be cemented with a drink," He smiled. "I would suggest Sake but you don't strike me as a drinker."

"It's the middle of the day," Ridiculous! It was like she was having a normal conversation with the man. She sighed. "I just want to go home."

"Back to Yoruichi?" He chuckled mirthlessly. "I must confess Shaolin, I like you. You are an odd girl and I can see why Yoruichi would be so fascinated with you. And since I like you I will offer you some advice, which I sincerely hope you don't follow through on since it contradicts our agreement."

She raised her head feeling curious.

"You should leave Yoruichi," he said it softly and there was no trace of humour in his voice. "You clearly love her very much and I fear that it will only lead you to being hurt. She will not love you. She is quite incapable."

Soi stared at him in shock. His golden eyes, so much like Yoruichi's, regarded her with something dangerously close to concern.

"Funny," She said, barely keeping the quiver from her voice. "That's exactly what she said about you."

"Did she now?" Masaru smiled looking amused, and also a little proud. He laughed, warmth flooding his cold eyes. "Yes, I suppose she would say that. But you should know, Shaolin, that she and I are very alike."

Soi eyed him; taking in his confident stance despite his obvious weakness, his greying hair and his wrinkled loose skin, and his golden eyes. Especially those eyes, the sudden influx of humour and warmth making them resemble Yoruichi's more than ever.

She shook her head. "No," She said firmly. "She's nothing like you."

"I am glad you said that," He inclined his head. "And now I will have my men ready the car and we will return to Tokyo."

/\/\/\

The drive back took longer since the traffic into the city was heavily congested. Masaru, now wearing an expensive suit, passed the time by showing Soi the various papers that were running stories on Kaien and the subsequent downfall of all things Shiba. Every single paper had run a story on it, and Soi found herself feeling slightly shocked that she hadn't noticed something earlier. Or that someone hadn't called her to ask what she knew.

They dropped her off at the same ally that they had 'abducted' her from. Soi climbed out of the car, leaving Masaru sitting in flicking idly through the paper, apparently finding amusement in every single thing he read. She shut the door behind her and started walking. The numbness was starting to fade and in its place was a heavy, almost claustrophobic, feeling that seemed to be clenching her heart.

She had effectively sold her soul to the devil.

And she had nothing to show for it.

Yoruichi would hate her if she found out. Soi was sure of it.

'_She'll not love you.'_

Possibly not. Probably not. But Soi wasn't sure if she could stand Yoruichi hating her.

'_...they were after me...'_

And Soi had to keep Yoruichi safe. She had to. And to keep Yoruichi safe she would make a deal with someone Yoruichi despised. It all boiled down to a simple fact. Soi would rather have Yoruichi hate her and be safe and alive than...

Her thoughts trailed off. She didn't even want to think what the other option was. Her throat was burning; it felt raw every time she swallowed. She rubbed at her eyes, a little surprised at how they ached.

"Aaroniero."

Soi spun round at the sound of the voice. The window of Masaru's car was scrolled down and he was looking at her.

"What?"

"The name of the man who killed Shiba Kaien and the name of the man who attacked Yoruichi is Aaroniero Arruruerie," Masaru's lips twitched as though he was trying not to smile. "Consider this a parting gift, _Soi, _use it well."

The car pulled away leaving Soi standing in the ally alone with her thoughts. She had sold her soul, but she had gained a name.

_...Aaroniero Arruruerie..._

She knew exactly what she would do with the information.

Aaroniero Arruruerie was a dead man.

* * *

**I think I may now go down in fan fiction history as the woman who gave Kaien HIV... **

**I want you all to know that this chapter was a pain in the arse to write, and that Soi and Masaru's conversation was rewritten so many times that I can quote chunks of it from memory. Masaru turned out a bit crazier than I expected, I mean I knew he was a bit unhinged but... yeah...**

**Thank you for all the reviews so far, and thank you to all the people who have put this on their story-alerts and faves.**

**Reviews are love.**

**Random notes:**

_**nǎi nai **_**Is mandarin for your paternal grandmother and is apparently an informal way of saying it. If anyone wants to correct me on this, then feel free – my Mandarin is, quite honestly, extremely limited.**

_**In Trust of No One **_**by Charon and taken from **_**The Dying Daylights**_


	21. Good Mourning

**This chapter's for Ichi-nii, because I promised – enjoy your IchiHime moment sir, you probably won't get another one in this fic :P**

**

* * *

**

Good Mourning

"You moved in with her."

Soi tilted her head back and stared up at the source of the accusation. Tatsuki was leaning over the bar and down at her. With an annoyed sigh Soi turned her gaze away from the girl. Soi was sitting on the floor of the Eleventh bar, her foot propping the door to the cooler unit open as she restocked it. She draped the cloth she had been using to wipe the dusty bottles across her shoulder, not caring if it dirtied her work shirt.

"Yeah, so?" She replied. She moved her leg and nudged the cooler door close.

"Don't you think it's a bit sudden?" Tatsuki inquired.

"We've been together for over a year," Soi did a quick mental count. It was technically true, even if for the first year Yoruichi had been less than faithful, and that they had broken up and separated for six months. It had only been a few months since she and Yoruichi had decided to get back together. "So no, I don't think it's a bit sudden."

"Gah!" Tatsuki sounded both annoyed and disappointed.

Soi looked back up to the short-haired girl just in time to see her vault over the bar. She landed softly on her feet next to Soi and sat down, propping her feet flat against the cooler and her elbow on the half-full crate that separated her and Soi.

"Anyway," Soi said. "How did you know?"

"Please," Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "I live with Chizuru; she knows everything that's going with Yoruichi's life."

Soi mentally cursed Chizuru and her stalking hobbies. "Look, what does it matter that I moved in with her?"

Tatsuki was quiet for a moment, her head tilted to the side and her eyes looking pointedly away from Soi.

"I was there when you two broke up; I remember how badly she hurt you. I dunno," Tatsuki shrugged. "I guess I just don't want to see you go through that again."

Soi felt annoyed. She knew that Tatsuki was only trying to look out for her, but she also knew that Tatsuki had never really liked Yoruichi. Not that she intentionally bad-mouthed her, but she did seem incapable of keeping a disproving tone from her voice when she spoke of her.

It had only been a few days since Soi had moved in with Yoruichi, not that she had actually informed Yoruichi that she had, and Yoruichi certainly hadn't seemed to have noticed that Soi and her meagre possessions were now permanent fixtures in her apartment. Since New Year, Soi had spent every night at Yoruichi's so the move made perfect sense. It would be easier for her to protect Yoruichi if she lived with her.

If she was honest, the real deciding factor had come when Soi had returned to her own apartment to find her Landlord waiting for her. She had expected to be served with an eviction notice, knowing that she was now several months behind on her rent. Instead, the man had – of all things – bowed to her and thanked her at great length. Apparently she had paid her outstanding rent, and then a full years rent in advance with more money on top to make up the inconvenience she had caused him. Soi had felt sick as her landlord had carried on thanking her, his sycophantic display making her wonder just how much money she had supposedly paid him on top of the rent. There was only one person who could have done this, despite her telling him that she didn't want his money.

_Shihouin Masaru..._

"Bastard," she muttered under her breath.

"Huh?" Tatsuki leant forward and shot her a concerned look. "You say something?"

"No," Soi lied.

She had told her landlord to keep the money and had moved out there and then. She didn't have much to shift to Yoruichi's and had done it in a single trip. The Goddess apparently hadn't noticed when she'd entered her apartment dragging her suitcase behind her; she was too busy lying comatose on the couch to pay any heed to the rest of the world.

"Hey Soi," Tatsuki said running a hand through her untidy locks and bringing Soi out of her contemplative mood. "I'm sorry for prying, but well..."

"Well what?" Soi turned to her, not even bothering to cover her annoyed scowl. It wasn't like Tatsuki to skirt around a subject; she was usually straightforward and unafraid of how her opinions would affect other people.

She sighed. "I heard that you'd been skipping your lectures, and I was wondering if-"

"It had anything to do with Yoruichi? She's not making me skip out on college, you can stop worrying," Soi picked up a bottle from the crate next to her and wiped the dust from it with the cloth. "I've just been busy lately."

"You also missed out on the last self-defence class."

"Don't care," Soi replied. She opened the cooler and placed the bottle inside; making sure the label was facing the front. She was probably the only person working in the Eleventh bar that cared about presentation, most others just chucked the bottle in not even bothering to see if it wound up on the right shelf.

Tatsuki opened her mouth to reply, anger burning in her eyes.

"Whoa!"

A cry from the other side of the bar cut off Tatsuki's retort, and she and Soi frowned as the cry was followed by the sound of glass smashing and a loud: "EEK!" Soi and Tatsuki jumped to their feet to observe the commotion. Ichigo stood holding a box of new glasses, his eyes wide in alarm. Two other boxes lay on the ground at his feet, burst open from the impact of the floor, the contents smashed around Ichigo's feet and also around-

"Inoue!" He yelled in surprise, whirling on his feet as he danced around the broken glass. "Ah, man! I'm sorry I didn't see you there."

"Owwww," Inoue sat on the floor, rubbing at her head. "Oh!" She stopped what she was doing and looked up at Ichigo her eyes wide.

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki bellowed.

"What?" He cried defensively. "It was an accident. She came out of nowhere."

"Help her up!"

Soi groaned her elbows on the bar top and her face in her hands. If she were to make a list of people she didn't want to see right now, or possibly even ever, then Inoue Orihime would be somewhere near the top of the list. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the girl, she was perfectly pleasant, and she just had a talent for rubbing Soi the wrong way.

"What's she doing here? I thought she was studying abroad." Soi muttered to Tatsuki, who, Soi now noticed, had the smallest of smiles tugging at the corner of her mouth. Raising her head, Soi watched as Ichigo dropped the box in his arms taking no notice that the fall would break these glasses as well, and he rubbed at the back of his head in an apologetic manner.

"Sorry about that, Inoue," He bent down and held out his hand to her.

"Oh that's alright!" She shuffled back on her butt away from the offered hand, her own hands waving frantically in front of her. "It was my fault. After all I did come out of nowhere, and I was the one who tripped you up, so really when you think about it I should help you up. But then you didn't fall down, because you have much better balance then me, like a tree, your feet are rooted – eep!" Inoue, thankfully, broke off of her ramble when Ichigo leaned forward and lifted her gently to her feet.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his hands still resting on her arms.

"I-I'm fine," Inoue said, her voice quivering slightly. "Thank you, Kurosaki-Kun."

"Anytime," He dusted off her shoulders before turning round and giving the box by his feet a kick, sending it sliding across the floor. He followed after it, using his foot to direct it towards the bar.

Soi looked back to Inoue; she seemed to be rooted to the spot. Next to her, Tatsuki sighed, her face falling into her hands.

"Chizuru must be happy that Inoue's back," Soi said quietly.

"Shut up," Tatsuki's voice was equally as quiet, though Soi could hear the bitterness in it.

"Fine," Soi nodded, resisting the urge to smirk and push the subject further. "What are you doing here anyway? I don't believe for a second that you called round just to lecture me."

"Orihime wanted to see Ichigo," Tatsuki answered. "I didn't actually expect you to be here, being able to 'lecture' you was just a bonus. Isn't it Shiba's funeral today? I figured you'd be at that."

"I wasn't invited," Soi replied.

"Bet Yoruichi's there though. You could have gone with her."

"It's a funeral, it's hardly a plus one event," Soi ducked back down behind the bar and quickly placed the rest of the bottles in the cooler, not bothering to wipe the dust from them. "Besides, I don't really think she wanted me there."

"Trouble in paradise?"

"No. Kaien wasn't my friend, I hardly knew the guy," Soi straightened up and kicked the now empty crate away.

"Did you know that he had HIV?"

"No," Soi answered honestly. "Like I said, I wasn't friends with the guy."

"But Yoruichi was..."

"And it was none of my business," Soi retorted. "She doesn't have to tell me everything." Although she was slightly disappointed that Yoruichi hadn't shared this information with her. Soi hadn't asked Yoruichi about it either, all she knew about Kaien's problems were what she had recently read in the papers, and she told Tatsuki as much.

"Doesn't matter now, I guess," Tatsuki said with a shrug. She walked back round the bar and over to Inoue who was still where Ichigo had left her, apparently finding the ground very interesting. "Ready to go?"

"Oh! Tatsuki-Chan!" Inoue beamed, her smile returning three-fold. "Yup, I'm ready!"

"You'd better be at the next self-defence class," Tatsuki said over her shoulder to Soi. "It is supposed to be a class for women, makes sense don't you think that they're taught by women."

Soi shrugged. "As long as I get paid," She frowned as a thought struck her. "Did they ever catch the guy who was attacking women?"

"Nope," Tatsuki replied. "There haven't been any more attacks though." She directed Inoue to the door. "See you Friday, don't be late."

"Yeah, whatever," Soi muttered. She'd never really put much thought into it before, not caring what happened to the odd few women who had been attacked. As far as she was concerned they had probably deserved it. She had very little sympathy for a young woman wandering round campus on her own at night, she was asking for trouble to find her.

She was probably wrong, being paranoid, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection between the attack on Yoruichi and the ones on campus.

_Aaroniero Arruruerie..._

Could he have been the one behind those attacks as well?

'_They were after me...'_

No, Soi shook her head and sighed. He couldn't have been. The attacks on Yoruichi had been organised, the girls who had been assaulted were random. Soi was letting her paranoia get the better of her.

She moved from behind the bar and inspected the mess that Ichigo had left. She kicked idly at one of the boxes spilling out more broken glass onto the floor. She checked her watch, the funeral would be finished by now and Yoruichi had said that she'd come straight here to pick Soi up. She decided that she wouldn't have time to clean up Ichigo's mess, and instead used her feet to pile the broken glass closer together; she wasn't intentionally trying to make the idiot's job easier for him merely looking for something to occupy her time while she waited.

"Did you do that?" Ikkaku's voice sounded from behind Soi. She could hear his heavy footsteps on the hardwood floor as he approached.

"No," she answered. "Kurosaki did."

"That idiot!" Ikkaku seethed, he kicked one of the burst boxes punting it across the room, broken glass spewing from its ruptured side. "Don't make it easier for him. I'll kick his scrawny ass for making such a mess!"

Soi decided that it wasn't worth pointing out that Ikkaku had successfully doubled the mess with his little stunt.

"I'm done for the day," she said instead. "I re-stocked everything and cleaned up from last night."

"I don't care," Ikkaku fished around in his jeans pocket and pulled out a crumpled cigarette packet. He took one for himself and then offered her one.

"I don't smoke."

"Sure you don't," He stuffed the packet back in his pocket and lit his cigarette.

Soi watched as the bald man trudge across the room, kicking broken glass as he went, towards the old worn leather couch that was situated near the broken pool table. She sighed and stuffed her hands in her pockets as Ikkaku slumped down on the couch, puffing away on his cigarette. It was hard to believe that he and Yumichika practically ran the Eleventh bar, especially since they could both usually be found skipping out on work.

She took a seat as well, though on the opposite couch to the one Ikkaku was sitting on. She remembered sitting on this couch a few months ago, squashed next to Yoruichi since there was a distinct lack of room. It had been that night they had gone to Hueco Mundo, Aizen's club. There had been a definite change in Yoruichi since that night. She supposed that it wasn't only Yoruichi that had changed, she had probably changed too. They had come very close to breaking up that night, to losing everything between them. Despite what had happened between them that night, their relationship was stronger for it. It could have easily gone the other way.

Light footsteps heralded the arrival of Yumichika. Soi wondered when she had perfected the ability to tell who people were just by the sound of their footsteps. He sat opposite Soi, dressed immaculately in a tight black shirt and equally tight jeans that emphasised his slim figure. He was easily the most feminine person in the room and Soi decided that this was more an insult to him than to herself.

"You'll know this," he said, flicking his hair back with a practised motion of his hand. He pulled his own packet of cigarettes from his shirt pockets and lit one. The smell of tobacco wafted across from the pair towards Soi, she could detect menthol underneath its almost overpowering stench. "Shiba. Who'd he get it from?"

"Huh?" Soi scowled at him. "What do you mean?"

"Whaddya think?" Ikkaku bellowed. "Who gave Shiba HIV?"

"Why would I know?" She asked incredulously.

"Figured your benefactor would have told you," Ikkaku said with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Don't call her my benefactor," Soi told him, her voice laced with anger. "I doubt even she knows."

"One way to find out," Yumichika murmured, craning his neck back to see through the windows at the far side of the room.

Soi frowned and turned as the door to the bar opened and in walked Yoruichi, long coat swirling behind her, lit cigarette in hand and eyes downcast. It had been over two weeks now since Kaien's death, and Yoruichi was showing no signs of even attempting to get over it. Today was the first time she had made the effort to get up and leave the apartment. Soi was hoping the fresh air would do her some good and that the funeral would give her a focus for her grief and enable her to start moving on.

Jumping to her feet, Soi made her way over to Yoruichi. "Hey," She greeted a little unsure of what the proper thing to say was in this situation. "Uh, so how was it?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "Fine, I guess," She brought the cigarette to her lips and took a drag. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'll just go get my coat," Soi turned away from Yoruichi, ignoring the weight in her chest at the morose expression that was still on Yoruichi's face.

"Did many go?" Ikkaku asked loudly.

"No," Yoruichi replied softly, Soi could barely hear her. "Hardly anyone."

"Not surprising," Soi heard Yumichika say. "No one will want to be associated with him now."

Silence followed his words. Soi quickly went to the cloakroom and grabbed her coat and threw it around her shoulders. She hurried back; Yoruichi was puffing furiously on her cigarette, her brow furrowed and her shoulders tense.

"Ready," Soi told her.

"Good," Yoruichi pulled some keys out of her pocket. "Let's go."

"You drove here?"

"Yeah," Yoruichi replied.

"What happened to Komamura?" Soi asked.

"I fired him."

"Fired? Why?" An irrational flare of panic surged through Soi. Komamura wasn't just a chauffeur he was also a bodyguard.

"I was bored of being babysat," Yoruichi answered as though her safety wasn't any of her concern. "Come on." Yoruichi turned to leave but was beaten to the door by Ikkaku. He threw them open and strode out a delighted cry emitting from him as he took in Yoruichi's car.

Soi followed Yoruichi out, shivering as the cold air hit her. She stared at the car and silently wondered how much it had cost.

"Yoruichi-San," Ikkaku said with awe in his voice. "I want to have sex with your car."

"It's just a car," Soi muttered. A very, _very,_ expensive car. Soi had no interest in cars; she didn't understand the need to own one as a fashion statement. So long as the car got you from A to B then she was satisfied.

"_She _is not just a car!" Ikkaku sounded horrified at Soi's words. "This!" He waved his arms around the vehicle. "_She _is a _Lamborghini!"_

"Just a sports car to me," Soi informed him. It was hardly inconspicuous; Yoruichi would stand out like a sore thumb with this. Soi looked down the street; every person who walked past either glanced or outright stared at the car. It didn't help that it was bright orange either.

"A _Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder _to be exact," Yoruichi said, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at her lips. She was clearly both amused and pleased by Ikkaku's reaction.

"When did you get this?" Soi asked.

"I've had it for a while, it's just been in storage," Yoruichi answered. "I called Lisa the other day and asked her to get it to me. Like I said, I'm sick of being babysat. I'm perfectly capable of driving myself to and from work, or where ever the hell else I want to go for that matter."

Ikkaku seemed to have tears in his eyes. "I want one of these!"

"Get the hell away from my car," Yoruichi told him, though there was the slightest hint of humour in her voice despite the hard words. "And get in the car, Soi."

Soi wasn't sure she wanted to, she'd been in a car with Yoruichi behind the wheel and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. She shuffled over to the car and opened the door, warily climbing inside. She wondered if Yoruichi would be at all offended if she were to throw up in her very expensive sports car. Considering Yoruichi's driving skills or lack of, it was a highly likely outcome of the trip.

Yoruichi climbed in as well and shot Soi a small smile. "Sorry," She said with a slight shrug. "You have to admit though; it's a very nice car. I'd say that we should have sex in it, but there isn't really all that much room. Plus I don't want to get any suspicious stains on the seats."

It was absurd and it was crude, and Soi laughed. She couldn't help it, it wasn't even the kind of thing she usually found funny, and actually it was the exact kind of statement that would normally cause her to shoot her girlfriend a disapproving look. She was too busy feeling happy at the half-assed joke Yoruichi had made though to even begin to feel annoyed at her.

"Let's go," Yoruichi's smile widened slightly.

"Where's the seatbelt?" Soi wondered aloud as she searched for it. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Ikkaku still gawking at the car.

"Haven't a clue," Yoruichi replied. "I've never been able to find em."

/\/\/\

They had arranged to meet at Kuukaku's after the funeral. Yoruichi felt a slight pang of guilt that she hadn't made any effort in the past two and a-bit weeks to even check in on Kuukaku. She had briefly spoken to Kisuke over the phone, but had taken very little notice of what he had said. She had been too focussed on her own grief to even bother considering anyone else's. Stupid of her, she only now realised, whatever she had been feeling paled in comparison to what Kuukaku was going through. It was just too easy for Yoruichi to think of Kuukaku as an indestructible force that couldn't be moved by something as trivial as grief. It hadn't been until the funeral that Yoruichi had realised that she had been completely wrong. Kuukaku had looked worn and tired, she had barely spoken and when she had her voice was low and hoarse.

It made Yoruichi feel completely selfish for being so indulgent in her own grief.

She pulled up next to Kuukaku's house; the drive way was taken up by Kuukaku's truck and Ganju's bike. Next to her Soi shifted restlessly in her seat.

"You'd think that someone who gets her kicks from freefalling wouldn't get travel sick," Yoruichi commented.

"Your driving is more terrifying than any plummet could ever be," Soi replied fumbling for the door handle.

Yoruichi exited the car smoothly as Soi stumbled out. Looking over the top of her car Yoruichi could see Ganju storm out of the house, helmet in hand and marching towards his bike. Kuukaku followed after him.

"I'm not done talkin' to you!" Kuukaku yelled at him.

He ignored her and swung a thick leg over the bike, roughly jamming the helmet over his head.

"Ganju!"

Yoruichi winced at the screeching tone Kuukaku's voice had adopted. Ganju continued to ignore his sister and slowly back down the driveway, his legs waddling on either side of the bike in an awkward manner. Once out the drive way he revved the engine and sped off down the street.

"Ah fuck!" Kuukaku bellowed. She turned her gaze to Yoruichi and Soi. "What the fuck you two lookin' at?"

"Uh, nothing, I guess," Yoruichi mumbled in reply. She was going to ask what was going on, but just one look at Kuukaku told her that it would be in better interest to her health to keep the question to herself. Both she and Soi shuffled their way to the house, acutely aware of the bleary eyed glare Kuukaku was giving them, as though daring them to say something.

Kuukaku snorted dismissively and stomped into the house slamming the door behind her.

"Well this is going to be fun," Soi muttered.

Yoruichi didn't trust herself to answer and opened the door for Soi, ushering her inside, she found though that she couldn't help but agree with her.

/\/\/\

Kuukaku had gone to sit out in the back garden on her own, Yoruichi knew better than to follow her when she was in a mood. Instead Yoruichi made her way downstairs into the basement knowing that that was where Kisuke would be hiding. She had left Soi upstairs grumbling about something or other.

The basement was Kisuke's base of operations; it was dimly lit by a single bulb swinging from a beam, wires ran across the floor and snaked up the walls, wrapped around the wooden beams in the ceiling like vines. Yoruichi had to step over several expensive and important looking pieces of equipment before she found Kisuke, tucked behind several monitors and tapping happily away on a keyboard.

"Hey," She greet with a small wave.

"Ah, Yoruichi-San," He smiled at her, a thin hand scratching idly at his head making him look a little bemused. "I didn't expect to see you. Sorry about the mess."

"It's just as messy as the last time I was down here," She stepped over more loose wires and stopped just next to his desk. "You didn't come to the funeral."

He grimaced and sunk down into his seat. "I doubt Kaien would have wanted me there."

"He's dead, I don't think he would have cared," Yoruichi was mildly surprised at how cold her own voice sounded. She changed tact. "Kuukaku would have wanted you there."

He shrugged in reply. "I don't really do well at occasions like this."

"Still, you should have been there."

He didn't reply, his fingers returning to the keyboard and tapping away.

"Working on something?" She asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Not really," He replied, he turned the monitor closet to him to face Yoruichi.

"Oh geez!" A hand went to her mouth to cover the smile that had appeared at the sight of what Kisuke had spent his morning doing. A brightly coloured anime girl stared cheekily from the screen. "So while we were burying Kaien you were-"

"Trying to get into the class rep's pants," He cheerfully finished for Yoruichi. "I've already had my homeroom teacher and my stepmother."

Yoruichi suppressed a chuckle at his antics. "Here was me thinking that you were doing very important and complex work, and you're playing a dating sim."

"Yoruichi-San," He said in a disappointed tone. "This is important and complex work. The class rep's panties aren't going to remove themselves."

She sighed and turned the monitor away.

"Oh, I hear congratulations are in order," he said in a slightly more serious tone. "You were promoted."

"How did you know that?" Yoruichi asked, she hadn't told anyone yet. She wasn't entirely sure what her own feelings on the matter were, and was unsure if she would even accept the new role within her family's company.

"I have my ways," He said cryptically. "Meaning your dad phoned and told me."

"Lovely," She muttered. "Did he say anything else?"

"That you're disappointment and a waste of potential and all the usual stuff," he listed, ticking each one off of his fingers. "Nothing new to add. Although he did seem quietly optimistic that this time you'd apply yourself."

"I don't want the extra responsibility. I'm not even sure I actually want anything to do with the company."

"Well, it'll all be yours one day."

"Lucky me," She murmured.

He paused for a moment, his head cocked slightly to the side in a gesture that was unusual for him. "Well," He said, bottom lip jutted out slightly and eyebrows raised. "What do you want to do?"

She shrugged, her finger slowly drumming on the desk top. "I haven't a clue. I just know I don't want to turn into him; spending my life stuck in an office, always working and being stressed out. It's not for me."

"Still a free spirit I see?"

She snorted. "There's no such thing. I'm not afraid of hard work. I just don't want it to consume my life. Why is that such a bad thing?"

"It isn't," He leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his chin. "You should have stuck with the athletics; it was the perfect way to get out of this."

"Career ending injury, remember?" She pointed at her knee as she spoke.

"That wasn't career ending, a little hard work and you could have easily competed again," He sat back up. "You might not have broken any world records, but you still would have been close to gold medal material."

_Close to... _She shook her head. "What was the point in doing it if I couldn't be the best?"

They both lapsed into silence; the only sound that permeated the room was the gentle hum of Kisuke's computer and the occasional tap of Yoruichi's nails against the desk top.

"What are you going to do?" Kisuke asked softly.

"What I agreed to do," She answered. "My duty."

"Such a dirty word," Kisuke chuckled. "And such an unusual one for you."

"Oi!" She poked him hard in the bicep. "I have always done my duty. Whatever that man has asked of me, I have given."

"Except for getting married."

"Except for that one," She agreed. "I did everything else though. And I'll do this too, what's a little extra work. Who knows, now that my position within the company is actually real, and not just one for show I might enjoy the work. Stranger things have happened."

"That's true," Kisuke agreed. "Like Kaien's condition becoming public knowledge." He added in a darker tone.

"Yeah," Yoruichi breathed. That _was_ strange. Kaien's condition was a closely guarded secret with very few people actually aware of the truth. Very few among the Gotei 13 knew, and even less among Kaien's friends and associates. From a brief flick through the papers she could see that someone from the hospital had made a copy of Kaien's medical records and sold them to the press.

"Any idea who it was?"

"Not a clue," Kisuke said, rubbing at his chin again. "It could have been anyone who worked at the hospital, or even anyone who was there that night. It's not looking good for the Gotei 13 though. A lot of influential families are starting to wonder if the Old Man is actually capable of looking after their secrets now. Another screw up like this might be all it takes to undermine him completely."

"Do you think it's linked to those guys who attacked the Thirteenth bar?"

"You mean, do I think that Aizen was behind it all?" He sighed. "The attack seemed too messy, too random for it to have been Aizen. Then I know that Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez works for Aizen, but I can't be sure about the other two. Aizen is of course denying having anything to do with the incident. And from what I've gathered Jaegerjacquez's has been fired from Hueco Mundo."

"So it was probably just Grimmjow trying to mess with me?" This didn't explain what Aaroniero Arruruerie had said, he had demanded that she go with him. It seemed to her that they had attacked the Thirteenth bar with the intention of abducting her.

"I think so."

She didn't believe him. Kisuke was clearly trying to make her feel better. Make her feel as though it was all random and that it hadn't been an organised effort to harm her. It was a weak way to lessen the guilt she felt over the situation. If she was completely honest with herself, then she knew that the reason she hadn't been to see Kuukaku earlier was because she felt guilty. Kaien wouldn't have been killed if it wasn't for her.

"But do you think the two were linked?" She watched him carefully. Kisuke kept his expression blank, his eyes not meeting Yoruichi's. "Did Aizen have anything to do with Kaien's medical records winding up in the hands of the press?" She pushed.

Kisuke sighed. "I honestly don't know," he admitted. "He denies having anything to do with the attack, and there is nothing to suggest that he had anything to do with Kaien. There's no evidence."

"Guess not," She sighed as well and rubbed at her eyes. "I'm going to check on Kuukaku." She turned from Kisuke and made her way back across the obstacle course that was the basement. She stopped just short of the staircase and turned back to face Kisuke.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I was just wondering; do you know how many people are being paid to follow me?"

His eyebrows rose. "What makes you think that anyone's following you?"

She gave him a disbelieving look. "I'm not stupid, Kisuke, so don't treat me like I am."

"I don't know."

"I'm not stupid, Kisuke," She repeated her voice hard.

"Hirako," He answered. "I don't know about anyone else, just him. Though I think it's safe to assume that Yadomaru is a spy for your father."

"Thank you," She turned back from him and made her way up the stairs.

/\/\/\

Soi was lying on the couch in the living room flicking idly through a magazine she had found. Yoruichi stood in the doorway watching her for a while before she made her presence known.

"You look comfy," was all she said.

Soi dropped the magazine and glanced at Yoruichi. "You took your time," she countered.

"Pfft!" Yoruichi scoffed with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I was an hour at most." She waited for her words to sink in, an annoyed scowl adorned Soi's features.

"I said I was sorry," She pushed herself into a sitting position and tossed the magazine to the side. "I lost track of the time," the last part was muttered sullenly as though Soi didn't believe herself.

"Well, so did I," Yoruichi replied pleasantly. "We're leaving soon. I'm just going to go check on Kuukaku."

"Fine."

"I'll be an hour at most," Yoruichi called back over her shoulder at Soi as she exited the room and made her way into the garden, ignoring Soi fuming behind her.

Kuukaku was sitting along on the scorched decking, her back to the house. Yoruichi slowly approached her.

"Hey," She called out softly before stepping up onto the decking and sitting down next to Kuukaku. "I'm sorry I didn't call round to see you earlier."

"Don't be," Kuukaku replied. "I'm sure you had yer own thing's t'deal with."

"Still," Yoruichi shrugged. "It was kinda crappy of me. I should have-"

"Don't bother!" Kuukaku interrupted her.

"Okay," Yoruichi nodded and lapsed into silence. She shifted her position so that she had a leg tucked up beneath her. After a few more uncomfortable seconds that felt like minutes, she retrieved her cigarettes from her pocket. She placed one to her lips and offered the packet to Kuukaku.

"Thanks," Kuukaku mumbled picking out one. "Ganju's real pissed off with me."

"Yeah?" Yoruichi lit her cigarette, her lighter for once working. "Why's that?"

"I never told him that Kaien had HIV. He found out from a friend or something like that. I doubt he read it in the paper, since I doubt the little shit can read but..." she trailed off.

Yoruichi passed her the lighter. "It wasn't your responsibility to tell him."

"Don't feel that way."

"It was Kaien's," Yoruichi continued. "Don't go feeling guilty because of his mistakes."

"I'm not!" Kuukaku retorted though she was clearly lying. "It's just that, when I read it all in the papers. He kept a lot from me too. I mean I knew he had it, but I never knew how bad it was. He didn't tell me he wasn't responding to the treatment, he didn't tell me that he was getting worse."

_He was always going to get worse, _Yoruichi thought. They had all just been unwilling to face that fact.

"I'm real fuckin' angry with him," Kuukaku admitted, taking short angry drags on her cigarette.

"For not telling you?"

"For being stupid enough to get infected in the first place!" She yelled. "And then leavin' me to deal with it all! Fuckin' idiot! How could he be so stupid?"

"I don't think he did it on purpose," Yoruichi said quietly. "He fucked up, yeah, but... Well, he fucked up."

Kuukaku grumbled under her breath, chewing ion the end of her cigarette as she did so.

"Look, don't worry about the press and what everyone else is saying," Yoruichi told her, her hand landing lightly on Kuukaku's shoulder. "This will all blow over soon when people find something else to gossip about. You'll see. And the Gotei 13 will find the one who's responsible for it all getting out and make them pay."

"Fat fuckin' lot o'good it does us now! 'Sides," Kuukaku leaned back on her hands and tilted her head back. "I don't want anythin' to do with the Gotei 13 anymore."

Yoruichi's eyes widened. "What? Why not?"

"Whaddya mean 'why not?' They fucked up, that's why not! Not like we got anythin' left of a business or reputation to protect anyways. All gone down the crapper now."

Yoruichi's shoulders slumped and she stared at the ground. Kuukaku had a point, even if Yoruichi didn't want to believe it. This was exactly what Kisuke had been saying; families would be losing faith in the Gotei 13. They couldn't afford anything similar happening again.

She squeezed Kuukaku's shoulder. "You going to be alright?"

"Course. I ain't got a choice, I have to be alright."

It was reassuring to Yoruichi that Kuukaku was still able to show such defiance, that she still proved to be close to indestructible.

"I'm glad," She stood up, dropped her cigarette on the decking and ground her heel into it. "I'll call you tomorrow. We should do something next weekend."

Kuukaku didn't say anything; she just carried on staring off into the distance. Yoruichi hopped down from the decking and slowly made her way towards the house.

"It should have been you."

Yoruichi froze. Slowly she turned to look back at Kuukaku; her head was turned and she was facing away from Yoruichi. A thin trail of smoke rose from the still smouldering cigarette that rested between Kuukaku's fingers.

Yoruichi swallowed.

"Seems unfair," Kuukaku continued. "You go out and fuck anyone yer want, and there are no consequences. Hell ya even rewarded. You got the kid in there who's so head over heels for you she'll forgive ya anything. Doesn't seem right, y'know?"

Yoruichi stood stock still; she wanted to say something, anything would have done, but couldn't find her voice. Her throat burned and she tried to swallow again but the lump that was there was too much. It was all too much.

"Yer always did land on yer feet."

"I'm sorry," Yoruichi managed to choke out.

Kuukaku jumped, her head snapping round to face Yoruichi and her eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, I just..." Yoruichi stumbled back, turned, and started walking towards the house. There was a pain, somewhere, she wasn't entirely sure where. She just knew it hurt. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, her throat burned and her eyes were stinging.

"Yo-Yoruichi!" Soi's voice sounded from somewhere as Yoruichi staggered back through the house. She had a feeling that Soi was following her but didn't turn her head to confirm the suspicion. It wasn't until she stepped out of the front door that she stopped and felt a small hand take hold of her own.

"What's wrong?" Soi stepped round in front of her, still holding her hand in her own.

"Nothing," Yoruichi said quietly. "Nothing's wrong."

Soi stared at her. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Yoruichi lied, nodding her head and ignoring the tight burning sensation in her throat. "Just, time to go."

She didn't look back; she ignored the worried looks Soi kept shooting her way and the tightness in her own chest, as she slid into her car and drove away, Kuukaku's words echoing softly in her head.

* * *

**I actually didn't think I'd get another chapter up until after Christmas. Amazing what happens when you stop being lazy and actually do some work. Also, I think if I were in Yoruichi's position I'd be a blubbering wreck on the floor.**

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review and let me know what you think.**


	22. Let It Be Broke

Let It Be Broke

It was late and Yoruichi felt very tired. She rubbed at her eyes with her free hand and immediately regretted it; rather than providing any relief she had only succeeded in making them feel dry and itchy. A long sigh escaped her and she dropped her hand from her face. The dim lighting in her office wasn't helping her eyes any, and the printed words in front of her seemed to blur into one unintelligible mess. She pushed back from her desk and stretched in her chair, feeling her shoulder joint pop as she did so.

She had spent the entire day at work, she felt a little proud of herself for it. It hadn't just been today that she had worked either; all last week as well she had turned up to work, her new position offering new responsibilities and piquing her interest. She had put in extra hours after most had long gone home, hadn't taken her usual extended lunch breaks and had even taken part in the meetings rather than sleeping through them.

There was a light rap at her office door, and Yoruichi turned her head towards it just as it opened. Lisa strolled in; a large folder tucked beneath one arm, wedged in tightly by her elbow, and a steaming Styrofoam cup in her other hand. As per usual she was dressed smartly in a grey suit, though the skirt was arguably on the shorter side of decency, and uncomfortable looking shoes that Yoruichi knew 'clacked' on hard floors.

"I brought you some coffee," She said as she crossed the room. "There's a vendor just round the corner from here who makes the best coffee." She placed the cup on Yoruichi's desk. The folder slipped from her grip and she quickly caught it before it dropped to the ground.

"Nice catch," Yoruichi said with a smile. She took the cup and smelt the contents, the aroma of it perking her up immediately. "Thanks."

"What else are assistants for," Lisa answered with a smile. She frowned and pulled one of the papers that Yoruichi had been scanning through towards her. "Is this what you've been doing all afternoon? You do realise that the company usually ignores these, right?"

"Yep!" She answered with an emphatic smile and nod, she sipped at her coffee. "And I think the company are morons for doing so."

The notes were from a presentation that had been given the other day by various junior members of the company. At the beginning of every year a select number were allowed to present their ideas for the company, how they would personally improve things or how they would act if in charge; it was a cheap way to make them think that they were actually going somewhere. To make them think that the company valued them.

"Usually we just chuck these in the trash," Lisa continued ignoring the way Yoruichi was giving her a knowing smirk. She sighed. "Alright then, what are you so smug about?"

"Nothing," Yoruichi replied. "I just think that it's silly of us to not take notice. Aren't these people..." she gestured at the papers. "...The future of the company? Besides, some of them have really good ideas."

"Ideas that your father isn't interested in," Lisa pointed out. "Ideas that the board are not interested in."

"Narrow minded old men," Yoruichi said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "This company is too stuck in the past; trying to hold onto old ideas that have no place nowadays. Shouldn't we be trying to modernise? Fresh ideas are a good thing."

"Suppose so," Lisa adjusted her glasses.

Yoruichi sipped at her coffee; it tasted very good and seemed to spread much needed warmth throughout her body. As she drank she considered Lisa; friend? Assistant? Spy? She couldn't trust her, but that didn't mean that she couldn't _like_ her. Even without Kisuke's thoughts on the woman, Yoruichi had already assumed that she was a spy for her father. She certainly wouldn't be the first person that Yoruichi's father had bought out, had used to spy on her. She wondered if the reason Lisa had slept with her was to try to gain more information, though if that had been her intent then the bespectacled woman had certainly gone about it in the wrong way – Yoruichi counted it as one of the most terrifying experiences of her life.

"Are you planning an insurrection?" Lisa asked, arching a narrow eyebrow.

Yoruichi laughed softly. "Yes, yes I am, and you caught me," she held up her hands in mock surrender. "And now that you've caught me, just what are you going to do with me?" Yoruichi mentally chastised herself for the flirty tone her voice had automatically taken, the way her eyes had raked over Lisa's body and the suggestive smirk she wore on her face. It was almost as if she was inviting Lisa to do something obscene to her.

Something about Lisa just encouraged her to be lewd.

Apparently she had a similar effect on Lisa; who was clearly trying very hard not to follow through on her less than subtle invite (even if she hadn't really meant it), there was a brightness to her eyes and her lips were pressed hard together but twitching at the corners, suppressing a laugh or a licentious comment.

Yoruichi brought her coffee back to her lips and settled for sniggering into it. She heard Lisa let out a small chuckle; she shook her head a smile on her lips.

"Anyway," Lisa said, a little too loudly and smile still fixed in place. "I'm a little surprised that you're here."

"Really? Is that because I'm actually working?"

"Yes," Lisa replied. "But also because, if I'm to believe rumour; then Soi moved in with you. I thought you'd be at home with her."

All the lightness Yoruichi had enjoyed before dissipated. She sighed and placed the cup down on the desk. "Yeah, she moved in."

"You don't sound very happy about it; I thought you'd be ecstatic."

It was a difficult situation; on the one hand she was very happy, she finally had Soi all to herself and there was a wonderful warmth and comfort to coming home and having Soi there. On the other hand though the guilt she felt in those quiet moments, in the heart of night when everything else was silent, was eating her alive.

She didn't really want to tell Lisa that though, so instead she said; "Rumours?"

Lisa nodded. "Most are just that, but a few have at least smatterings of facts to them. Like this one."

"Are these rumours circulating here?"

"Of course," Lisa said. "If you go down to the lower offices then you get to hear all sorts."

"Wonderful," Yoruichi muttered. "How do they find these things out?"

Lisa opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by the sound of Yoruichi's cell phone going off. They both looked down at the offending object as it lit up and played a ridiculously chirpy pop tune.

"I swear that's not the kind of music I usually listen to," Yoruichi said automatically.

"Sure it isn't," Lisa replied with a smirk. "Aren't you going to answer it?"

Yoruichi picked it up and checked the name on the small screen. "No," She said dropping the phone. "It's Kuukaku. Again."

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Again? Aren't you taking her calls?"

"I'm not speaking to her," Yoruichi answered quickly and then winced at how childish that sounded. Ever since Kaien's funeral and Kuukaku's parting words to Yoruichi, she had been refusing to speak to her. It wasn't really as if she was angry, though she was in a distant sort of way, just that she didn't think she could face her friend. Kuukaku's words had hurt and she was afraid that Kuukaku wasn't calling to apologise but to continue her tirade. Yoruichi wasn't sure she could handle it if that turned out to be true.

"Wow," Lisa said, disbelief written all over her face. "You're hiding."

"Huh?"

"You're hiding," Lisa repeated. "You're not here for work or whatever; you're hiding from Shiba and from Soi."

"No I'm not!"

Lisa gave her a flat stare. "Uh huh. Yoruichi-San, I may not be the best person to give relationship advice, or even advice on friends, but hiding really isn't the best solution."

"I'm not hiding." Oh, but she was. And damn Lisa for working that out!

"I don't know why you're avoiding Shiba, but I can guess why you're avoiding Soi and-"

"Yes! I know!" Yoruichi cut in shrilly. "I'm a horrible person, I don't deserve her and I'm selfish and all the other things too!"

Her outburst was greeted with Silence. Lisa's eyes were wide and she looked slightly taken aback, she turned her head and exhaled her fingers automatically going to her glasses to adjust them though they didn't need it.

"Is that what you think or what everyone else thinks?"

Yoruichi paused and considered Lisa's words. She wasn't entirely sure about the 'horrible' part, but everyone seemed to think she was selfish.

"It isn't selfish to be worried about hurting her."

Yoruichi sighed. "No, I guess not."

And if that was the only thing that held her back from telling Soi the truth then she could at least halfway validate her inability to come clean. The larger part of what held her back though was completely selfish and was fed by her fear. She was scared that once she told Soi the truth that Soi would leave her.

"You should go home, Yoruichi-San," Lisa said quietly, an uncharacteristic kindness to her voice. "It's late. We're the last here."

"Yeah," Yoruichi nodded her agreement. She raised her head and looked to the window; the skyline was dark but the neon glow from the city made it seem almost as bright as day. It was late and she wondered if Soi would be worried about her. "I probably should."

Lisa waited patiently while Yoruichi cleaned up round her desk and picked up all her things. She cast her eyes around the office and frowned as her eyes fell on the family tree that hung in the centre of the far wall. All those names of her family throughout the generations, all winding down and narrowing until it ended on her and her alone.

"I want that taken down," She said nodding towards it. "And I want this whole office redecorated."

"I'll get right on it tomorrow," Lisa promised. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, I'm going to take off early on Thursday. I won't be in Friday and unavailable all weekend."

Lisa nodded. "Do you have plans?"

Yoruichi nodded, she'd just recently come to a decision in her mind. "Yeah, and they can't be put off," She followed Lisa out of the office.

"You're not planning on killing yourself because your girlfriend dumped you, are you?" Lisa asked looking back over her shoulder.

"She hasn't dumped me-"

"Yet."

"—and no! I'm not that stupid."

"Good. I dread to think how much paperwork would be involved if you did do something like that."

"You're so sympathetic," Yoruichi muttered.

She walked next to Lisa, there was no sign of anyone around them, not even the cleaners, indicating that Lisa was right and they were the only ones left in the building, except possibly for security. The entered the elevator and Lisa hit the button to take them down.

"Don't you feel even a little guilty?" Yoruichi asked suddenly.

"Me?" Lisa sputtered in indignation. "Why would I feel guilty?"

"Well because..." Yoruichi trailed off as she caught the hard look Lisa was giving her. She sighed. "No reason." She had to suppose that guilt like this was something that couldn't be shared.

/\/\/\

The apartment was shrouded in darkness. Either Soi wasn't in, Yoruichi couldn't remember if she was working tonight or not, or she was already in bed. She flicked on the lights and checked her watch; it was only ten pm, but then it wasn't that unusual for Soi to go to bed early.

Yoruichi sighed and removed her coat, dumping it on one of the stools by the breakfast bar, before moving around the bar and into the kitchen. A mug of warm milk was sounding a bit like heaven right now. She rummaged in a cupboard and retrieved a mug. Her fridge was always stocked with milk, real milk the thick full-fat variety that made Soi gag and pull a face that suggested she was calorie counting in her head.

It was odd, Soi wasn't really the type to take any notice of her calorie intake but she abhorred anything full fat. Yoruichi didn't care what was in it so long as it tasted good. She never seemed to put weight on anyway.

She placed the now full mug in the microwave and waited for it to heat up.

"Tastes better if you do it on the stove."

Yoruichi smiled and let the now familiar warmth wash over her at the sound of Soi's voice. She turned to face her. "Takes too long," She replied. "I wasn't sure if you were in."

"Do you ever take any notice of what shifts I work?"

"I forget," Yoruichi shrugged apologetically. Soi had clearly been in bed, she was dressed in a tank top and small shorts that made Yoruichi want to ask her 'who wears short shorts?' but she knew better, Soi would only stare at her in confusion. She wondered if Soi had deliberately picked the outfit just to distract her, the tank top would have sufficiently covered her but it was bunched up slightly at one side revealing Soi's hip, since her shorts were worn invitingly low, and a section of toned stomach.

"You're late," It wasn't an accusation merely a statement, but Yoruichi could hear the disappointment in her voice.

"I was busy," Yoruichi replied. "Lots of work to do."

Her response was met with silence and Yoruichi had to look away, though she tilted her head slightly so that she could watch Soi from the corner of her eye. The silence seemed to stretch on and was filling with a heavy tension that Yoruichi knew would invite her sense of guilt to override. She wanted to say something to lift the tension but didn't know what. Luckily the microwave broke the silence for her when it beeped.

She retrieved her now steaming mug and turned to Soi, holding it out towards her. "Wanna sip?"

Soi grimaced. "No, I don't." She turned away and seemed to suppress a shudder.

"How can you not like milk?"

"I like milk, just not milk that's well on its way to being cheese."

Yoruichi laughed and scooted over to Soi; catching her arm she stopped her retreat. "Hey," She pulled her back and kissed her quickly. No sense of guilt ruined the moment so she kissed her again. "How was your day?"

"Boring," She answered a smile now on her lips. "Yours?"

"Boring," Yoruichi agreed with a smile and tip of her head. She kept a hold of Soi's hand and walked over to the couch, bringing the smaller girl with her. They both sat down, Yoruichi set her mug on the coffee table and then wriggled out of her jacket.

"That's better," She sighed, undoing the top buttons on her shirt. She turned her head to face Soi. "How come you were already in bed?"

"I have to be up early."

"Going for a run?"

"Jog," Soi answered, clearly ignoring the slightly annoyed tone that laced Yoruichi's voice. "Hisagi is training for something or other; I wasn't really listened when he explained. I told him I'd help him out with it. You know, shout encouraging slogans at him or some other such nonsense."

Yoruichi smiled. "You mean you're going to berate him for being slow?"

Soi grinned at her. "As if I would do that."

Yoruichi laughed softly. They remained in silence for a while, Yoruichi taking occasional sips of her drink. Unlike before the silence wasn't wrought with tension, it was actually quite comfortable. Yoruichi still had a hold of Soi's hand, her fingers laced loosely through Soi's. Eventually though Soi stood up, dropping Yoruichi's hand form her own, and stretched.

"I'm going back to bed," she said walking off towards the bedroom. "Night."

"Night," Yoruichi replied. She stayed where she was; her hands clasped round her now empty mug and her eyes slowly scanning her apartment. She could see Soi's stuff littered around in odd places; her college books seemed to have taken over one part of the room and a couple of odd bits and bobs were dotted on shelves. She hadn't even told Yoruichi she was moving in, she had just done it and it had taken Yoruichi a few days to actually realise.

She wasn't angry; actually she was a little bit relieved. She remembered asking at New Year; remembered retracting her invite, but apparently Soi was intent on saying yes. Underneath the relief was a fear that Yoruichi had trapped Soi.

She reached over the table and grabbed at the cigarettes that were lying there. Smoking usually brought her relief, helped her clear her mind and think things through properly; now it just seemed habit to have one before she went to bed. It had also become habit to, once she'd finished her cigarette, to take time to try and mask the smell of tobacco and nicotine since she knew Soi hated it. Which was exactly why once she had finished her cigarette, enjoyable in a vague sense, she flapped her hands pointlessly around herself as though she could stop the smell from seeping into her clothes.

/\/\/\

The bedroom was also dark and Yoruichi took a moment to let her eyes adjust to the lack of light. She could make Soi out on the bed, lying face down and resolutely sticking to 'her side' of the bed. Yoruichi smiled at this and slowly made her way across the room; a lot cleaner she noticed since Soi had moved in.

She'd still be awake, Yoruichi knew she would still be, Soi took an age to fall asleep and seemed to be dependent on Yoruichi's presence to do so; something else to feel pre-emptively guilty over.

Climbing onto the bed, Yoruichi crawled across it like a cat on the prowl towards Soi, who shifted beneath Yoruichi. She tuned just as Yoruichi made her way far enough up to face her. The slightest frown marred Soi's features and Yoruichi found herself wishing that she'd smile more.

"Hey," Yoruichi said softly. She lowered her head and brushed her lips against Soi's, smiled at the contact and then pressed down again for a deeper kiss.

"Urgh!" Soi broke the kiss leaning her head back into the pillow and away from Yoruichi. "You've just had a cigarette."

"Oh for goodness sake!" Yoruichi collapsed down on top of Soi. Her face was pressed into Soi's pillow, just above the crook of her neck.

Soi chuckled; the sound rumbled up her body and brought a smile to Yoruichi's features. She closed her eyes and resisted sighing in contentment as she felt Soi's arms move slowly around her, a hand trailing up her back to trace lazy circles between her shoulder blades.

"Can we have sex?" Yoruichi asked, her voice muffled by the pillow.

Soi's hands stilled. "I'm kind of tired..."

"Yeah, me too."

"Then why'd you ask?" She sounded completely perplexed.

Yoruichi, still lying on top of Soi, shrugged. "For the sake of consistency, I guess."

"Since when do you ever ask?" Soi wondered aloud. Her hand resumed its movements. "You usually just take."

_Take? _Now that really made her sound selfish. Greedy too. Yoruichi pushed herself up and propped herself on her elbows so that she could face Soi. "I never hear you complain?"

Soi's head tilted to the side and a sardonic smile curved up her features. "Well you neglected to tell me exactly where I make these complaints."

"You have to make them in writing and submit them to my assistant," Yoruichi informed her. "I'll have Lisa copy off a form for you." She really wished she hadn't thought of Lisa.

Soi didn't seem to notice that she had tensed slightly though, that a fresh wave of guilt was flooding her system. Her smile softened and her hold on Yoruichi seemed to tighten ever so slightly.

"What if I want to file a sexual harassment claim?"

"Silly Soi," Yoruichi admonished, tapping her finger against Soi's nose as she spoke. "You can't sexually harass the willing."

Soi pushed up against Yoruichi, her lips stopping just short of actual contact. "Suppose not," she murmured against Yoruichi's lips and then she kissed her.

Yoruichi sighed into the kiss, revelled in the feel of Soi's arms tightening, almost possessively, around her. She relaxed into the warmth, felt the thrill of her heart lurching up a gear hammering out a faster paced beat that was a tempo meant only for Soi, and tensed at the scratching of guilt against her senses. The all too familiar guilt brought coldness, made her ache dully somewhere deep inside.

It reminded her that she had no right to ask anything of this girl.

Slowly, Yoruichi disentangled herself from Soi's grasp. She placed a brief kiss on Soi's lips, noted the flickering confusion in her eyes, and rolled off of her to the edge of the bed. She sat with her back to Soi, not wanting her to see the broken expression on her face.

For her part, Soi didn't say anything. Yoruichi felt her shift on the bed behind her, but resisted the temptation to turn round and check on her. Yoruichi set about unbuttoning her shirt, her usually nimble fingers uncooperative in the task, and she fumbled on the buttons.

It took a longer than usual to change, she didn't usually wear anything to bed but something about tonight made her feel that the confines of clothes would be necessary. She considered it armour, another layer between her and Soi. She pulled an old, too large t-shirt over her head, recognised it as one of Kaien's that she had stolen from him years ago, and then turned back to Soi. She was lying on her side, her back to Yoruichi.

Yoruichi slipped beneath the covers and shuffled over to Soi, her arm slipping round her and pulling her small body close into her own.

This was something else she didn't have the right to. She shouldn't be allowed to hold her like this, shouldn't be allowed to cling desperately to something she was going to destroy. She was, as everyone told her, selfish though. And she needed this, needed to feel Soi pressed against her to know that she was _there, _because it scared her that one day she wouldn't be there and that Yoruichi would be alone. And so she decided to enjoy these brief moments of weakness, to ignore the hollow guilt that was spreading through her, and to cling to the warmth and security that Soi provided.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Soi's voice broke Yoruichi's trail of thoughts. Her eyes snapped open and instinctively she tightened her hold on Soi.

She swallowed. "What makes you think that anything's wrong?"

"You're really tense."

"Nothing's wrong."

"Right," Soi's voice carried a note of disbelief. She reached back behind her and placed her hand to Yoruichi's cheek, then sighed and removed it. A moment later she wriggled out of Yoruichi's hold and away from the Goddess's grasp.

Yoruichi stared at Soi for a moment, and eventually, accepting that for tonight Soi was out of her reach, she rolled over putting as much distance between them as she could. It was a lot colder on this side of the bed.

"You always keep things from me."

Yoruichi kept still, her brow furrowed as she listened to Soi speak.

"It's like you don't trust me."

She didn't sound hurt, Yoruichi noted, she didn't sound anything – her voice was perfectly neutral as though Soi was commenting on the weather. Yoruichi found no comfort in this though.

_I trust you, _she thought unable to voice it. She remained silent and let the guilt cloud everything.

/\/\/\

Morning seemed to take forever and then some to arrive.

Yoruichi sat on the couch, dressed for work but putting off actually going. She had hardly slept, unable to clear her mind of troubling thoughts. She though recently come to a conclusion, and had from that drawn up a plan of sorts in her mind. It only required slightly altering her original plans for the weekend, but she figured that in the long run this would work out for the better.

She jumped to her feet when she heard the key in the door. Soi walked in, breathing hard and slightly red in the face from the exertion of her run.

"Hey," Yoruichi bounded over to her, nervous energy making her jumpy. "Enjoy your run?"

"Uh, yeah," Soi answered shutting the door behind her. "I didn't expect you to be here. Haven't you got work?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to talk to you before I went," Yoruichi explained.

Soi raised a brow. "Talk to me? Is it anything bad?" There was barest hint of anxiety to Soi's composure.

Yoruichi shook her head. "No, nothing bad," not yet anyway, the bad news could wait a while. "I was thinking about what you said last night, about me not telling you stuff."

"Oh," She sounded surprised.

"Yeah, and well," Yoruichi paused a moment, taking time to collect her thoughts. "It's the anniversary of my mother's death in a couple of weeks."

Soi frowned slightly at that, her arms wrapping around herself. She didn't say anything though, so Yoruichi continued.

"And I was I mean I am, going to go visit her grave this weekend. I don't want to run into my father, so I'm going early."

"Okay," Soi said slowly. "Well, uh, thanks for telling me."

She looked very confused, and for a brief moment Yoruichi felt very confused by Soi's reaction. That was until she realised she had left out a key point.

"Would you like to come with me?" She asked her voice louder than necessary.

Soi stared at her.

Yoruichi wondered why the hell she felt nervous all of a sudden. She licked her lips. "It would mean a lot to me, you know to have you there." She cringed at the neediness in her own voice.

Soi didn't say anything, she just continued to stare. Of all the reactions Yoruichi had mentally prepared herself for, this one hadn't even crossed her mind. She had expected Soi to either refuse or accept she hadn't expected Soi to cease functioning. Her expression was completely blank, and Yoruichi had no idea what she was thinking.

"Right, well that was clearly a stupid idea," Yoruichi muttered. "Why would you want to go? I mean there's nothing there for you." She chewed on her lip, suddenly feeling stupid and also a little let down.

"Yes."

Yoruichi's head snapped up. Soi was looking away, her brow furrowed and a worried look in her eyes.

"I'd like that," She looked very uncomfortable and there was hesitancy to her words, like she wasn't exactly sure what the right thing to say was.

A small smile crept up Yoruichi's face. "Good," she said warmly. "It's quite a way from here; I'll drive us down on the Friday. There's a great hotel near there that we can stay in, and loads of other stuff to do. Y'know, besides from visiting a grave."

Soi's expression soured. "You're driving us there?"

"There is nothing wrong with my driving!" Yoruichi retorted, pointing her finger at Soi. The cloud of tension had dissipated, and suddenly with Soi's words, everything felt alright again.

Yoruichi hoped she was doing the right thing, lowering her walls and letting Soi that bit further into her heart.

* * *

**Hurray for abrupt chapter endings!**

**Soi's a bit of a hypocrite. I find it slightly hilarious.**

**This chapter and the previous one were filler chapters of sorts, let's call them transitional chapters because it sounds snazzier and it makes it sound like I know what I'm doing. The next chapter is really plot heavy, so I guess it works out... **

**I'm actually ill (self-inflicted, I'm not deserving of pity) so I couldn't be bothered doing a proper spell check. I'll edit stuff later if it needs it.**

**Thank you for your time. Reviews are welcome and definitely appreciated.**

_**Let It Be Broke **_**by AFI and taken from **_**Shut Your Mouth & Open Your Eyes**_


	23. One Last Cigarette

One Last Cigarette

Steam rose from the Styrofoam cup that was cradled in Rangiku's hands. Bending towards it, she blew out a stream of cool air dissipating the vapours. For reasons unknown to anyone this amused her and she smiled as she watched the steam once again rise from the hot coffee.

"Having fun?" Toshiro's grumpy voice asked.

"Of course," Rangiku answered raising her head to greet him.

He dropped his bag onto the table top and thumped himself carelessly down onto the bench, his elbows connecting hard with the surface. She resisted the urge to wince at the sound of his body colliding into the wood.

"Would you like a sip?" She asked lifting her coffee up to him and waggling it invitingly.

"No," He scowled at her. "I wouldn't."

"You're too young for coffee anyway," She teased. She brought the cup back to herself and took an enthusiastic gulp. The hot liquid burned her tongue and the back of her throat but she swallowed it down anyways. She pouted at the boy in front of her. "I burned my tongue..." She whined.

"It's your own fault. You shouldn't be chugging back hot drinks like that."

Her pout increased in intensity; her bottom lip was jutting out so far that it risked becoming separate from her body. Toshiro ignored her though. Eventually she sighed and turned away from him.

They were sitting at a picnic bench on Tokyo University's campus. Swarms of students surrounded them, all lost in their own little worlds and paying absolutely no attention to her. For a change, she enjoyed the anonymity. Recently it seemed that everyone wanted to speak to her.

"So, how are you finding uni?"

"Fine."

He never had been one for long replies.

Rangiku turned back to face Toshiro, fixing a bright smile to her face. "You must have made loads of friends by now."

"Not really."

"Everyone loves a boy genius," she continued as though he hadn't just refuted her claims of his popularity. "And such a cute one too!"

"Urgh!" He slumped down, his arms folded on the table top in front of him and his chin resting on them. There was a faint pink tinge to his features though. The knowledge that she still had the power to make him blush made her smile. "Everyone here acts in a really immature manner."

She raised an eyebrow. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It is," He replied. "I thought it would be different to high school, but no one seems interested in working. Everyone slacks off and seems more interested in drinking and chasing girls than in their studies."

Her smile softened in understanding. She appreciated that it must be difficult for him, especially being so much younger than the other students, but she couldn't help but feel slightly amused by his predicament.

"And you're too young to go to the bars," She mock-lamented in a loud voice, flinging her head back and resting the back of her hand against her forehead. "That must be difficult for you. They get to have all the fun while you're left at the dorms playing with your-"

"That's not it!" He seethed, flushing angrily. He exhaled. "I seem to be the only one interested in work. Aren't we here to earn our degree?"

"You're also here to have fun," She pointed out. "And there is absolutely nothing wrong with chasing a few skirts.

"Chasing a few ... skirts?" He repeated glaring at her.

"Exactly. Although, I don't think you'll need to do much chasing, you must be beating the girls off with a stick."

He grunted at her in irritation and turned his head away. She noted though that he didn't deny it. She'd always figured that he'd be popular with the girls, and probably with the boys that were so inclined as well; he was good looking in a boyish way (to be expected given his young age) but had a level of maturity that wasn't afforded to males twice his age. His chilly attitude only seemed to encourage the attention, every girl wanted to be the one to thaw his heart.

The tips of his ears had very gone red.

Her hand went to her mouth to muffle the giggle that the image brought. Luckily he didn't seem to notice her glee, or he just ignored her, which was probably more likely.

Even though he was far too young to even go near the bars, the Gotei 13 already had their hands on this boy. She felt a little bit guilty for that, she had been the one to bring him to their attention. Much like Gin, he was a prodigy and the Gotei 13 was expecting great things from him. They had paid for his tuition to Tokyo University and much other expenditure, since even with a scholarship he would have struggled financially. It was an investment for the future; they paid his way now and he would repay them with, in hopefully the least melodramatic way possible, his life.

Everything he would achieve would be attributed back to the Gotei 13. She had secured for him an opportunity that he possibly wouldn't have had, but it cost him his freedom.

Now she was being melodramatic.

She drank her coffee in silence; occasionally raising her head to watch Toshiro whose attention seemed to be focussed off into the distance.

"How are things with you?" He asked, turning back to face her.

"Oh fine, you know, keeping busy," She replied. "I moved into my new place alright. It's closer to work and a lot smaller."

"Bet it's still a mess."

"Clutter is healthy!" She retorted. "It gives the place personality. Though I did lose Haineko the other day, but she showed up eventually. I think she got buried beneath some clothes. Anyway, work is going fine the bar did very well on New Year."

"Rangiku-San..."

"Hmm? What is it?"

He looked a little uncomfortable. He was refusing to meet her eyes and was fidgeting with the strap if his bag. "I was uh, just wondering if you had heard from Ichimaru?"

"No, I haven't," She answered quickly. Too quickly; Toshiro's eyes met there and nothing but concern shone in them. Rangiku let out a long sigh. "I haven't heard anything from him. And I don't want to either. He made his decision."

Toshiro nodded. "Good."

She was lying. She would have loved to have heard from Gin again, even if it was just so she could ask him why he had left. Why he had kept so much from her, why he had lied – though if she thought about it she couldn't recall him actually ever lying to her. She had always known about his affiliation with Aizen, they had been close when they both ran their respective bars. And even when Gin had followed Aizen, leaving his bar, she had supported him. She had opted to remain with her bar, not that Gin had asked her if she wanted to join him - perhaps he had understood that she was comfortable with her assistant manager's position at the tenth bar. He must have known that she wouldn't leave the Gotei 13.

No one from the Gotei 13 seemed to oppose Aizen, Gin and Tousen's defection, what did it matter to them if they opened up their own place. Rivalries were good for business weren't they?

It was different now; the events of New Year had changed everything. The blame for Shiba Kaien's death had been levelled firmly at Aizen's door, though there was no evidence to support the accusation. Her past association with Gin was now causing her nothing but trouble.

/\/\/\

_The Eighth bar was unusually close to empty. Rangiku was used to it being one of the most popular bars among the Gotei 13. Tonight though she could only make out the odd group hustled in the corner and a couple of drunks looking slightly worse for wear at the bar. Tatsufusa was stood behind the bar cleaning a glass with a cloth. He was talking to one of the customers at the bar; a thin fashionably dressed man with blonde hair. She shrugged and walked further into the bar, the dance floor was vacant and the stage at the far end in darkness. _

"_You're here," the familiar voice of Nanao said from her left._

_Rangiku smiled brightly. "Hallooo, Nanao-Chan!" She greeted enthusiastically, slinging her arm around the thin woman's waist and pulling her into a hug. "It's nice to see you!"_

"_It's good to see you too, Rangiku-San," Nanao replied politely removing herself from Rangiku's arm. _

"_What's with calling me by my surname? How long have we known each other?"_

"_Years."_

"_Exactly!" Rangiku rested her hand son her hips as she berated her friend. "Now, what's my name?"_

_Nanao sighed. "I'm sorry Rangiku-San," She said in an annoyed voice, though a slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "How have you been?"_

"_Good, good," Rangiku answered removing her coat as she did. "Where's that handsome man of yours? I am going to drink him under the table!"_

_Nanao sighed in exasperation. "I really wish you wouldn't let him drink so much."_

"_Why? Doe she snore when he's drunk?"_

"_I wouldn't know!" Nanao snapped blushing furiously. _

_Rangiku suppressed a laugh. It amused her to no end that Nanao was determined to pretend that her relationship with Kyoraku Shunsui was strictly professional, despite the fact that everyone knew otherwise. _

"_Ah,Matsumoto-Chan's here!" Shunsui called from the other side of the bar. He walked over, his arms held wide as though he was planning on hugging Rangiku, though she knew he wouldn't. As per usual he was dressed in a pink shirt, the top few buttons undone and exposing part of his chest. His hair was neatly tied back and she could make out the colour pinwheel hair pins that he also seemed to have tucked neatly into his hair._

"_Of course I'm here," Rangiku responded with an exaggerated wave. "Now stop delaying and bring out the sake. I am going to drink you under the table, sir."_

_Within twenty minutes they were sat at the far end of the bar and well through their first bottle of sake. Rangiku was happy to see that he had brought out the good stuff, it wouldn't be until later when they were both so inebriated that their sense of taste had been obliterated that they'd start on the cheap stuff. Nanao had only stayed with them for one drink before declaring that she had work to attend to and had marched off._

"_Oh, when are you going to marry her?" Rangiku asked, leaning on her hand while lazily dipping a finger into her sake cup._

_Shunsui spat out the sake he was drinking. "Marry? Why would I want to do something as silly as that?"_

"_Oi! Marriage is not a silly idea. What's silly about pledging yourself to the one you love?"_

"_Uh oh!" Shunsui grinned at her; his cheeks were flushed with the booze and his movements slow and lazy. "Matsumoto-Chan's drunk!"_

"_I am not!" She picked up the cup and sipped down the contents. She couldn't be the night was only just beginning. "I just think that a respectable man like you should go and make a respectable woman out of Nanao-Chan."_

"_Nanao-Chan is already a bespectacled woman."_

_Rangiku laughed into her sake. "That's not what I said and you know it."_

_Within the next couple of hours they had moved onto the cheapest sake in the house. The stuff, despite its foul taste, went down like water and it didn't take them long to make it through several bottles._

"_...It just seems pointless to me, he's wasting his time," Rangiku slurred leaning forward on her elbows and wagging her finger at Shunsui. "Renji lost his chance. He messed up and he's not doing himself any favours by following Rukia round like a lost dog. He should cut his losses and go find some random ho's to take his mind off of her."_

"_Random ho's?"_

"_Yeah!" She nodded emphatically. "Nothing cures a broken heart like meaningless sex!"_

"_Or catching a venereal disease," Shunsui added. "Just ask the dearly departed Kaien."_

"_Urgh! Now you've depressed me," She slumped down onto the table, her head resting on her arms. She had been one of the few that had known about Kaien. The knowledge of which hadn't helped to ease her shock and pain at his sudden death._

"_Sorry," Shunsui spread his hands. "I didn't mean to lower the mood."_

"_I'd prefer it if you lowered the tone," She muttered._

_He chuckled at that, leaning back into his seat. As the night had progressed he had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt revealing his forearms. They were covered with thick dark hair. He had also undone more of his shirt buttons; his chest was also hairy. It made Rangiku wonder if he had a hairy back, or a hairy butt. She sniggered at the image and made a mental note to ask Nanao._

"_Speaking of lost loves," Shunsui started. He poured more sake into the two small cups. "Have you heard anything from Ichimaru?"_

"_I don't want to talk about him," Rangiku answered quickly. More specifically she didn't want to talk to Shunsui about Gin. She regularly went drinking with Shunsui and part of the appeal of it was that their conversations were completely shallow and almost always without meaning._

"_You'll have heard the rumours by now."_

_Rangiku raised her head and stared bleary eyes at Shunsui. "Rumours?" She repeated. "I haven't heard any rumours." She was lying, she had heard too many rumours about Gin lately, and a few rather unpleasant ones about herself as well. But she wanted to see what rumours Shunsui was on about._

_His expression became serious. "Well, I don't want to stir anything up but," He exhaled and took a sip of his sake, taking his time and clearly preparing her for the worst. "They're saying that he and Aizen are lovers."_

_She stared at him in disbelief. Had she heard him right?_

_She burst out laughing, her hand going to her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle it. A grin broke out across Shunsui's face and he started laughing too. They both guffawed at the thought of Aizen and Gin together and the ridiculous images it brought to mind. Even if some of the images caused her a dull pain. _

_She was trying to recover her breath, still occasionally letting out a small chuckle, and wiping a tear of mirth from her cheek when Shunsui spoke again._

"_There's also that he was involved in the attack on the Thirteenth bar."_

_Rangiku froze. Shunsui's voice was serious, like ice and it sent a thrill of fear through her. She shook her head slowly, not fully comprehending the change in tone the conversation had suddenly taken._

"_And Kaien's murder."_

_She shook her head more violently now. "No, no," She gritted her teeth. "Gin had nothing to do with that. He would never do anything like that. He's not capable of doing something so... so..." She searched for the word. "Evil!" She finished knowing that she was lying. Gin was more than capable of murder._

"_It was Aizen's men that attacked the bar," Shunsui said, almost sadly, though the emotion didn't show on his face. His entire demeanour had changed from earlier; the flush had gone from his cheeks, his eyes were clear and focussed and he sat up straight his hands positioned on the table in front of him._

_Rangiku swallowed again. A lump was forming in her throat. She wished she hadn't drunk so much her head was fuzzy and it was hard to form a thought never mind hold onto one. Something was very wrong. She cast her eyes around the nearly empty bar._

Why is it so dead in here?

_Usually the Eighth bar was one of the most popular, it was always jam packed with people. Yet there was no one here tonight. Tatsufusa behind the bar, Nanao over in one corner leaning against a wall and looking stern, and then there was a blonde man sitting at the bar. He hadn't moved all night._

_Suddenly Rangiku felt very afraid._

"_What's going on?" She asked in a small voice. It took quite a lot to shake her. Usually she reacted to fear with anger and then quite possibly violence. _

"_When was the last time you spoke to Ichimaru?" Shunsui asked calmly._

"_What?"_

"_Believe me, Matsumoto-Chan; I didn't want to do this. When was the last time you spoke to Ichimaru?"_

_Now she felt angry._

"_Not since he left!" She retorted in a loud voice. "Which you would know if you bothered to listen to me!"_

"_Did he say anything before he left?"_

"_No!"_

Yes

"_Have you had any contact with him since he left you?"_

"_No, I just told you I haven't spoken to him since we broke up!" She looked to her left only to find that the blonde man at the bar had turned around and was now facing her._

"_Have you spoken to either Aizen or Tousen?"_

"_No!" She jerked to her feet, stumbling slightly and knocking the table. "What is this?"_

_Shunsui managed to look slightly ashamed. He scratched at his chin with a single finger, his gaze sidelong. "It's just business. You know how it is; we have to cover all bases."_

They think I'm working with Gin, _She realised with a start. What did that mean? Was she in danger? And if she was in danger, than who was it from?_

"_I haven't heard from him and I don't want to," she said coldly. "As far as I'm concerned he can rot in hell!" It hurt to say it, but she forced the words out regardless. She didn't mean it. Gin was stupid, he was an idiot, and one day she hoped he would realise that. _

_Shunsui looked up at her, his eyes held nothing but sympathy. _

_He sighed. "Alright then," He placed his hands flat on the table and pushed himself up. "I'm satisfied. I was meant to ask you a whole bunch of other questions, but..." he held his hands out apologetically and shrugged. "Just be careful, okay? We might not have the evidence to support it, but we know that Aizen was behind the attack. And that means that Gin was involved too."_

_She nodded even as she disagreed somewhere in her mind. _

He wouldn't. He couldn't.

_And yet she knew somewhere in her heart that he would. It was the exact kind of thing that Gin would have found faintly amusing. He would have laughed in that soft voice, his smile widening and his eyes closed._

"_Idiot," She whispered._

"Uh, Rangiku-San?"

"Hmm?" Rangiku turned to face Toshiro. "What is it?"

"Well you," he paused, a frown creasing his brow. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

"I've just got a lot of work to get through," She told him, hoping that he would buy it as an explanation for how odd she must have been acting.

"Work? That's the worst excuse I've ever heard from you," He sounded annoyed but she could see the slightest smile to his features. "You've never done a days' work in your life."

"I have too!" She protested. "I had a photo shoot the other day."

"Yes, it must have been very difficult standing there while a man photographed you."

"It takes work to look this good!"

Toshiro pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his bag, slinging it across his shoulders.

"I'd better be getting back," he said. "I have an assignment to finish off."

"Not falling behind on your work are you?"

"No," he replied. "I'm not. It's not due in for another month yet."

"Then why do it now?"

"It makes sense to do the work early."

"No it doesn't," She shook her head. "Last minute is always the best time. The pressure gives you a rush."

"That's just stupid. I'll see you around."

"Sure thing!" She waved him off. "Oh! Toshiro!"

"What!" He bellowed spinning on his foot.

"Your birthday passed didn't it? How old are you now?"

"I'm fourteen," he answered, scratching at his head and looking a mixture of annoyed and confused. He was probably angry that she hadn't remembered.

"Oh, you're legal! That's so exciting!" She enthused. "You really will be beating the girls off with a stick. Unless of course," She smiled seductively at him, a hand going to her ample breast. "You'd prefer an experienced older woman to teach you about all things carnal."

"Who offers things like that? And no! No I wouldn't!" He sounded slightly hysterical and his face had gone beet red.

Rangiku giggled as he stomped off muttering loudly about "experienced women". That had been fun, while it lasted.

/\/\/\

The night air was chilly and Rangiku had to rub her hands together to ease the warmth back into them. She had annoyingly forgotten her gloves. She double checked the door to the Tenth bar, since she had often accidently forgotten to lock it before, and once satisfied she slipped the heavy key into her bag and headed off down the street. She looked up at the sky, there were no clouds but she still couldn't see the stars. That was a shame. Gin had once driven her out of the city and to the countryside just so that she could see the stars. She wondered what he was doing now.

Sighing she tucked her hands into her pockets and her chin behind her scarf in an attempt to stay warm. She had hoped that it would start to warm up now, but it had been a cold winter and apparently they were in for a cold spring.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned just in time to see a dark figure approaching her.

"Who's there?" She called out.

"It's me," Came the reply, and Rangiku relaxed as Hisagi jogged into view. "I didn't mean to startle you, Matsumoto-San."

"You didn't," She reassured him.

"Oh," did he actually sound disappointed? "That's good," He nodded. "Would you like me to walk you home?"

She raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't live that far away. I'll be fine."

"C'mon," he smiled at her. "Humour me. I'd feel bad if something were to happen to you."

"Well, okay then," She nodded and turned, walking in the direction of her apartment. She couldn't help but wonder if he had been sent to spy on her. Did they still suspect her of working with Gin?

They walked in silence for a bit, occasionally Hisagi would shoot her glances that she didn't quite catch. Was he smiling?

He laughed. "You missed Kira trying to put the moves on Hinamori-Kun," He told her. "We got him a little bit drunk and spent ages talking him into it. It was brilliant; he kept heading off to go talk to her and then changing his mind before he even got near her."

She smiled. "I would have liked to have seen that."

"Yeah, and then when he actually did manage to go talk to her he just stood there stuttering and going red in the face," Hisagi laughed loudly. "All the while she's sitting there completely oblivious going: 'Oh, Kira-Kun it's so nice to see you.'"

"Poor Kira," Rangiku agreed. "Well, hopefully next time he won't be so tongue tied. He's liked her for years now. It's a bit sad that he can't even muster the guts to tell her that. I mean, what kind of man is he?"

"Uh, y-yeah," Hisagi agreed. "That's pretty pathetic."

Hisagi's good mood seemed to deflate for some reason.

"What about you Shuuhei-Kun, any girls you've got your eye on?" She elbowed him playfully.

"Uh, no, no!" He answered loudly. "No girls!"

"Any boys then?" She teased.

"No!" He nearly screamed the reply, going red at the thought. "I don't swing that way!"

Sometimes he was too easy to wind up.

He coughed into his hand. "Well, there might be this one girl," He admitted."But I don't think she's interested."

"Oh, how could she not be interested in someone like you Shuuhei-kun? Kind, considerate, handsome..."

He seemed to swell with pride with every compliment she paid him. He walked that bit taller, his eyes bright and his smile wide. It really didn't take much to stroke a man's ego.

"I dunno about that," He said as bashfully as he could.

"You should give it a try," she encouraged. "You never know, she might have been thinking the exact same thing. That someone like you would never look twice at her. It's better to try and fail, then never try at all, don't you think?"

"Yeah."

"Besides," she continued her mood dropping slightly. "You don't want to end up alone. Like me."

He stopped walking. "You miss Ichimaru, huh?"

"Am I that obvious?"

"I guess," He rubbed at the back of his head, a pained expression to his features. "I'm not really good with the whole listening to peoples' problems thing, but I could try."

"That's okay, Shuuhei-Kun," She said. "I've already talked it through with Nanao and Momo."

"Oh, okay," He offered her a smile. "I'm sure it'll all work out." He sounded really depressed for some reason.

"Nah, it won't. He's made his decision and I'm better off without him. To the future and to spinsterhood I say!"

"That's really depressing, Matsumoto-San," Hisagi intoned. "Aren't you girls supposed to have a back up?"

"Are you offering to be my glass case?" She inquired.

"Uh, no, I'm not," He flushed slightly. "It just seems to me that a woman like you could have nay man she wanted."

"Hardly. I was thinking of jumping ships. Yoruichi-San seems to have so much fun on her team."

"What!" He sounded suitably outraged. "You can't just decide to be a lesbian."

"Why not?"

"You're not attracted too women, that's why not!"

"Minor quibbles," she said waving her hand dismissively. "And who's to say that I'm not? After all, I can easily admit that I think Yoruichi-San is one the most beautiful women out there."

"An orchid's beautiful, that doesn't mean you want to have sex with it!" He countered sounding desperate.

"Well, that's true," She agreed. "But an orchid isn't sexy and Yoruichi-San is definitely sexy. Come to think of it, Soi-Chan's pretty sexy too. Y'know, I've seen her next to naked and she has a nice tight body. If you're into that whole sporty streamlined thing. And then there's Nanao, I know she doesn't swing that way, but you've got to find the whole stern glasses look she's got going on sexy."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Hisagi muttered.

Rangiku laughed. "I'm only teasing Shuuhei-Kun," She assured him, giving him a poke to his ribs. "I wouldn't really switch sides. Not since Yoruichi-San decided she was a one woman, woman. If she'd been single I'd definitely given that a hit."

He laughed nervously. "That's pretty funny."

"Oh, I'm not joking this time. She'd been free; I definitely would have given it a try. Just for curiosity's sake."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"At least the cat lived before it died," She replied with a grin. "And this is me." She stopped walking and pointed to the building to her left. "I moved. Too many memories in the old place." She explained upon seeing his confused look.

"Ah, okay," he smiled and nodded. "Well, goodnight then Matsumoto-San."

"Good night, Shuuhei-Kun," She waved to him as she climbed up the steps that led to the front door of the building. "Thanks for walking me home. You're a true gent."

"Uh, Matsumoto-San!"

"Hmm?" She turned round; Hisagi was stood in the middle of the road, he'd obviously started walking away and then changed his mind.

"If you don't mind, would it be all right if I called you by your name?" He asked. He seemed to be bouncing on the spot with nervous energy.

"My name?" She figured he meant her given name, and of course she didn't mind. She'd never been one to conform to such polite social norms. And she was about to tell him that when something occurred to her.

_Oh_

_I'm the girl he likes._

Well that changed things.

She smiled softly. "Of course you can."

"Right!" A grin broke out across his face and he laughed in obvious relief. "Rangiku, would it also be all right, if sometime in the near future I were to ask you out for a drink?"

"I'd like that," It surprised her that she actually meant it.

"Right. Cool." He danced back, a huge grin plastered up his face. "I'll do that. I mean, I might do that. Y'know, sometime in the not too distant future. Good night, Rangiku-San!"

"Good night, Shuuhei-Kun."

She watched him dash off across the road, a definite skip to his steps. It made her smile to see him look so happy from such a simple thing. Perhaps he was just what she needed. He was practically the exact opposite to Gin, and they were already friends so there wouldn't be any nasty surprises.

She sighed and shook her head at her thoughts. Turning she entered the building and made her way upstairs.

She lived on the top floor and by the time she had trudged up the stairs her good mood from earlier had dissipated with her lack of breath.

"Really need to start exercising," She muttered to herself. She fitted her key into the lock and pushed her door open, it stuck on something and she had to push it hard to get it open. Her new apartment was nowhere near as nice as the one she shared with Gin, but she didn't really mind. It was hers and given time she would make it so that it was even better than her old one.

Although it could really do with a good clean; piles of clothes crowded the small room and swamped most of her furniture.

"Haineko?" She called out stepping into the apartment and over the mess that littered the floor. "Where are you? Mommy's home!"

_Stupid cat, _Rangiku thought kicking the door closed behind her. She was probably asleep somewhere where she wasn't meant to be. Or she might be buried beneath one of the massive heaps of clothes that were dumped around the place. Shrugging, Rangiku headed to the kitchen, taking her coat off and dumping it atop a mound of clothes.

And she froze. There, in her kitchen, stood two women whom she didn't recognise.

"Who the hell are you two?" She demanded.

They both turned; one of them was tanned and had dark hair, the other was small with long straight hair. The second of the two smiled upon seeing Rangiku and raised her hand, covered by a long white sleeve, to her mouth.

"Oh, you're back already," she didn't sound surprised. "We weren't expecting you for quite some time yet."

"What are you doing here?" Rangiku stood stock still, not wanting to give way to these two intruders. She wasn't sure what she should do, she wasn't armed with anything to defend herself with, and she didn't think they'd give her time to phone for help. They wouldn't be able to get to her quickly though, the kitchen was small but a table blocked the direct path from them to her. She quickly ran through a list of options in her mind; turning on her heel and running was starting to sound like a really great idea.

"We came to see you," The tanned one answered her. "I am Mila-Rose."

"And I'm Sun-Sun."

"How nice for you both," Rangiku seethed. "Now get out of my apartment."

"Why would we do that?"

A third voice from behind. Rangiku looked back over her shoulder to see a small woman, no girl; she looked very young, standing behind her.

"I'm Apache," The smaller one said. "Don't bother to introduce yourself. We know exactly who you are."

She was surrounded. Swallowing down the rising fear, Rangiku forced herself into a state of calm. "And what exactly can I help you girls with?"

"Girls?" Apache shrieked behind her. "I'm not a girl."

"Oh, my mistake. What can I help you with, _boy_?" She smirked at Apache.

"I'm a woman!"

"Maybes in a few years," Rangiku conceded.

Sun-Sun tittered into her sleeve. Mila-Rose looked thoroughly annoyed, a sneer distorting her features. Rangiku realised that none of them looked to be that old, although all three looked a bit rough around the edges. The realisation of their youth, and therefore their inexperience, eased her worry.

"Look, I've had a very busy day," Rangiku said moving further into the kitchen, showing them that they didn't scare her. "What is it that you want?"

"You're coming with us," Mila-Rose stated.

"Like hell I am," Rangiku countered. She wasn't scared of them, they were just foolish little girls playing at a game they could never even being to comprehend. "You should go home."

"You can't make us!" Apache bellowed from the doorway.

Rangiku calmly made it to the kitchen counter and leaned against it, her arms crossed loosely in front of her. Behind her she knew was her knife block, missing several and the rest were mostly blunt but useable. "And you three can't make me go with you. I guess we're at a stalemate."

"There are three of us," Sun-Sun pointed out.

"Pfft!" Rangiku smiled at them, it seemed to annoy all three of them that she wasn't taking their threats seriously. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Mila-Rose was edging towards her, slowly, trying to be casual about it. Inwardly Rangiku sighed.

_Idiots..._

Sun-Sun moved in first. Her hand darted out from the length of her sleeve fast, reaching for Rangiku's wrist. She grabbed at air though, her eyes widening in shock as she realised her intended target had easily stepped out of her path. She stumbled and, taking advantage of her unbalance, Rangiku seized the back of her head and drove her hard into the bench. Rangiku spun, hand out and seizing a weapon just in time for Mila-Rose to make her move.

The knife swiped through the air and Rangiku felt it make contact with flesh. The shriek that left Mila-Rose's lips as she stumbled back told Rangiku that she had been successful. Stepping back into a corner, her knife held out in front of her in a reverse grip, Rangiku eyed the girls. Sun-Sun on the floor her hands to her face, Apache wide-eyed in the doorway and Mila-Rose, still standing and cradling her arm. Rangiku could see the bright red spatters of blood on Mila-Rose's white coat.

"Y-you cut me?" She looked up to Rangiku.

"What? Did you think I wouldn't know how to defend myself?" She shouted in anger. "Stupid children! You have no idea what you're getting involved in."

"Children?" Apache quivered with barely suppressed fury. "We know exactly what we're doing!"

"You should all just go home, this isn't some game," Rangiku hoped that they would listen to her. She didn't want to hurt them, but if they continued down this path then she would have no choice.

"Why you!" Apache growled her fists clenched. She looked like she was about to launch herself at Rangiku.

"Enough."

The soft voice silenced all thoughts of violence. Rangiku felt her grip on her knife loosen slightly. Her breath caught in her throat and for some inexplicable reason cold fear settled in her gut. Her eyes rose to the doorway in time to see a fourth intruder walk in. She walked with an effortless calm and grace that spoke of restrained strength. A scarf was wrapped around her neck and covering the lower section of her face and she was dressed in white like the others. Apache stepped back, her eyes wide with a reverential quality that should have been reserved for gods alone.

The woman turned to face Rangiku, her hand loosening the scarf and pulling it down to expose her face. The first thing Rangiku noticed was that she was jarringly beautiful, and it annoyed her since the beauty didn't fit with the aura of danger that clung to the woman.

"You didn't need to come here, Harribel-Sama," Apache said quickly. "We could have taken care of her on our own."

"We're very sorry you had to come, Harribel-Sama," Sun-Sun's voice joined Apache's.

"So sorry, Harribel-Sama," Mila-Rose bowed her head.

Rangiku frowned. The three girls didn't sound like they were simpering; more that they were deeply ashamed that this Harribel had felt the need to check on them. Tightening her grip on her knife, Rangiku kept her eyes on Harribel, whom she recognised as the real threat. The woman gazed at Rangiku, her eyes were cool and her stance completely relaxed as though she felt that Rangiku with her knife posed no threat to her at all.

"There will be no need for violence," Harribel told her. "I didn't come here to fight."

"Tell that to your little minions."

A blonde brow raised on Harribel's flawless face. She turned to look at Sun-Sun and Mila-Rose. "I would have thought that a single woman would pose no problem to you both. I guess I was wrong to leave this task to you."

"We're very sorry Harribel-Sama!" They both cried out simultaneously.

"Enough. You can all leave."

All three started to protest, but Harribel simply raised a hand and silenced them. Reluctantly they left, Apache stomping off with Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun trailing behind. Rangiku kept her grip on her knife, wishing that Shuuhei was still around.

"Please, sit," Harribel indicated the table. She pulled out one of the chairs and sat herself down.

It was such a disarming gesture that Rangiku found herself lowering her blade. This woman was dangerous, Rangiku could smell it on the air, and she could feel it. The hairs on the back of her neck had risen, and her skin prickled. Every movement this Harribel made was like a predator stalking her prey. She made Rangiku feel faintly sick with fear, her insides squirming. And yet, she found herself moving towards her. It was as though her voice held such level of confidence, of command, that she was drawn to her, that she was obligated to obey her words.

"Would you like a drink?" Rangiku asked and then wondered why she had.

"Water."

"Are you sure? I have some plum wine or Sake if you prefer."

"Water will be fine," Harribel said.

Nodding, Rangiku filled two glasses from the tap and placed them down on the table before sitting herself opposite the intruder. She kept the knife next to her though, just in case. She wondered why she'd bothered to treat the woman as though she was guest rather than a trespasser in her home.

"Why are you here?"

"Aizen-Sama sent me," Harribel didn't waste words. She sipped at the water, not seeming to care that it was from the tap.

"What does Aizen want with me?" Rangiku almost didn't want to know.

"It is not my place to question Aizen-Sama's motives."

"You don't know? Or you don't want to tell me."

Harribel was silent.

"What if I refuse to go with you?"

"Then I will force you."

Rangiku felt the fear intensify. Just looking at the woman let her know that she was no match against her. This woman would easily and happily break her just to follow Aizen's orders. The knowledge made Rangiku feel small and pathetically weak.

People shouldn't be allowed to inspire such terror with their mere presence alone.

"Do you mind if I smoke?" Rangiku asked suddenly.

"Of course not," Harribel reached inside her coat and Rangiku flinched, half-expecting her to retrieve a gun. But she only produced a pack of cigarettes which she placed on the table top followed by a lighter. She slid them across to Rangiku who picked them up.

"A shark fin?" Rangiku thought aloud as she inspected the engraving on the expensive looking lighter.

Harribel nodded. Picking out a cigarette, Rangiku quickly lit it and slid the packet and lighter back towards Harribel who lit her own cigarette.

"Does this have anything to do with Gin?" Rangiku couldn't help but wonder.

"Perhaps," Harribel replied. She took a long lazy drag on her cigarette, all of her movements seemed deliberately slow. "That's a nice cat you have."

"Haineko? She's fat and useless."

"Most cats are," Harribel continued smoking. "Once we finish these we're leaving."

Rangiku shook her head, her hand shaking. "I don't want to."

"It's not about what you want."

"I'll fight back."

"I'll be forced to hurt you," she almost seemed sorry that it might come to that. "I would rather not."

Rangiku's hands were shaking. "What's going to happen to me?"

"I don't know," Harribel finished her cigarette and stood up, stubbing it out carelessly on the table top. "I'm afraid that your time is up Matsumoto Rangiku. We are leaving."

Rangiku brought her trembling hand to her face, her lips finding the cigarette and she took a long drag from it. It was small comfort. "I'm going to assume that you're not alone."

"There are more of us downstairs," Harribel confirmed.

"I'm going to leave a note, people will worry about me."

Harribel frowned. "That won't be necessary."

"It's just to say that someone will need to take care of Haineko."

"Very well."

It took Rangiku quite some time to actually find some paper and then a working pen; her shaking hand didn't help matters either. Finally, satisfied with what she had written down, she handed it to Harribel to read over.

"Your spelling is atrocious," She commented. A small smile suddenly broke out across her face. "The last line, how very droll. I'll allow it." She placed the paper down on the table.

"Right," Forcing herself to her feet Rangiku headed towards the door of her apartment, each step was agonising. Her mind was racing; desperately trying to find a way to escape. She thought about running as soon as they stepped outside, or screaming, or both at the same time. Yet something told her that it would be a fruitless gesture, that this Harribel would be a lot faster than her and that running would only make her look like a coward. For some reason it seemed terribly important that she didn't come across as a coward.

She tried not to think of what might happen to her.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, Harribel held the door open for her and Rangiku stepped outside. She wished that she'd picked up her coat on her way out.

A car was parked in front of the building. Apache was standing by the drivers' door, her arms crossed and a sneer on her face.

"Starrk's asleep," She informed them loudly.

"Wake him," Harribel told her.

Rangiku looked down the street. Had they only brought one man as back up? And he was the driver too. She had expected there to be more here for some reason. It actually annoyed her that Aizen thought that it would take so few to handle her.

"Don't even think about trying to run," Harribel warned. "You wouldn't get far. Starrk is fast, faster than you'd ever believe. Though there is always the chance that he could not be bothered with chasing you."

"Well that works in my favour."

"He'd just blow your knee out."

"Oh," Rangiku could taste bile in the back of her throat. Her whole body seemed to be shaking now and her insides squirmed uncomfortably.

"He'd feel terrible about it of course," Harribel moved to the car and opened a door for Rangiku.

Turning to face the building Rangiku ran through her options in her mind.

_What do I do?_

What could she do? She exhaled, her fists clenching at her side and she bowed her head, her eyes closing. Finally she collected herself and stood up straight, her shoulders squared and her expression determined. She turned and walked towards the car. Stopping just short of it she turned to look at Harribel.

"Will I be able to speak to Gin?" She asked, daring to hope.

Something like sympathy reflected in Harribel's green eyes. "I don't know," she honestly. "Perhaps. It will all depend on what Aizen-Sama intends for you."

Rangiku smiled sadly. "Let's be honest here. He thinks I know something about his plan, something that he doesn't want to the Gotei 13 to know."

Harribel nodded. "That's what I assumed."

"I don't know anything," Rangiku whispered in a small broken voice.

"I doubt that matters to him."

"No, I don't think it will," She slowly climbed into the car and flinched when Harribel slammed the door shut. The cold coil of fear was starting to give way to panic now. She swallowed, her lip trembling.

_Sorry Shuuhei, I don't think I'll be able to go for that drink with you._

Perhaps she would be able to see Gin again though. She knew that it shouldn't, but she found comfort in the thought. She missed him, despite everything she missed him. She had so many questions to ask him. And she wanted to scream at him.

It was a small thought, but it gave her hope and it stopped her from giving in to despair. And who knew, perhaps if she was able to see Gin, to speak with him, then there would be time for her to smoke one last cigarette with him.

_...just one last taste to make it last forever..._

* * *

**Okay, so first off, don't panic the next two chapters will be nothing but YoruSoi goodness so you can't complain that they weren't in this one. Well you can, but I'm not going to listen if you do.**

**Thank you for reading and for the reviews so far. I was really lazy with my replies last time (my bad) so if you were among the lucky few who did get a reply: yay you!**

_**One Last Cigarette **_**by Amy Studt and taken from **_**MY Paper Made Men**_

**Random note – it felt really weird writing "mommy" and originally I was going to have "mummy" but when I did a reread I found it oddly jarring, so I went with the Americanism instead. Apologies to my old English teacher, who would have told me off at great length for this most "heinous" of crimes.**

**No really, he would have ranted for days.**


	24. Where We Used to Play

Where We Used to Play

Bent over, her hands grasping her knees, Soi coughed hard, her already abused throat burning. She gulped down several deep breaths and tried to steady herself. She wiped the back of her trembling hand across her mouth and the straightened up, enjoying the cooling breeze that whistled past her.

"Feeling better?" Yoruichi asked with an amused smile. She handed Soi a bottle of water and then sat down on the low wall that ran along the side of the road. "I can't believe you get travel sick."

Soi took the offered water and sipped at it. "Why's that so hard to believe?"

"It just is," Yoruichi shrugged. "You never used to get sick when Komamura drove you around."

"Perhaps it's your driving," Soi muttered.

"How can it be my driving? We're going in a straight line, along a flat road."

Soi sipped at the water again and sat down next to Yoruichi. They had been driving for hours now and were still nowhere near their destination. Yoruichi had been vague with exactly where they were going, south of Shingu apparently, which in itself was easily an eight hour drive.

Soi sighed and resisted the temptation to ask Yoruichi if they were at least halfway there yet.

"And it can't be the car, it's a really smooth drive," Yoruichi continued, her voice now muffled by a cigarette that she was attempting to light.

"Do you have to smoke?"

"Yes, and I may as well have one now while we're in the fresh air," She finally managed to light the cigarette. "I'm betting you won't let me smoke while we're driving."

"No."

"Mint?" Yoruichi asked holding out a packet to Soi, who had the distinct impression that Yoruichi was enjoying her misery. Yoruichi smirked at her. "I should point out that you don't actually have a choice in this, you're taking a mint."

"Thanks," Soi took the packet off of her. From the corner of her eye she watched Yoruichi sitting on the wall, her legs were crossed and her foot was tapping away to an unheard tune as she happily puffed away on her cigarette. She almost looked normal, a reminder of the Yoruichi that had been.

It was a facade though; Soi could easily tell when something was bothering the Goddess. There was tenseness to her shoulders that only Soi seemed to notice, the gap between them was a carefully measured distance as though Yoruichi was afraid of touching her and she was turned ever so slightly away from Soi. Yoruichi was pulling away from her again, receding off into her own world and assuming that air of superiority she used as a wall to keep people out of her life. Soi wondered if she even knew that she did it.

"Right then," Yoruichi dropped her cigarette to the ground and stubbed it out with her shoe, exhaling a long stream of smoke from her lips. "Back on the road again. Hopefully this time we won't need to pull over for you to be sick."

"You're so sympathetic," Soi retorted.

"Oi! I got you some water," Yoruichi said as though the simple task proved her capabilities in caring for the infirm. She manoeuvred around the car to the driver's side. "Anyway, according to the robot lady we're not that far off now."

Soi rolled her eyes. The robot lady was the satellite navigation voice, which Yoruichi insisted sounded just like Kurotsuchi Nemu and thusly gave it a vaguely erotic quality. Ignoring the slight bite of jealousy, Soi had begged to know how Nemu's monotonous voice could ever be erotic. Yoruichi had smirked and then mumbled something about Soi's birthday and surprises, which had left Soi feeling mildly apprehensive.

Pushing herself up from the wall, Soi walked on shaky legs back towards the car. Yoruichi was already sat inside fiddling with the stereo. Soi groaned; along with travel sickness and the mental images of Yoruichi and Nemu, Soi also had to put up with Yoruichi's taste in music. It was proving to be a long, long trip.

/\/\/\

A soft hand rested against Soi's cheek and she was stirred from her sleep.

"Hey, "Yoruichi was leaning across from her seat in the car, smiling gently. "Time to wake up, we're here."

"Huh?" Soi frowned, feeling momentarily confused. She'd fallen asleep, she realised as she pushed herself up from her slumped position. Her shoulder ached and there was a crick in her neck from the awkward position she had been in, she also felt a little embarrassed that she'd nodded off.

"I can't believe you fell asleep," Yoruichi said, smile still intact though giving way to a more teasing quality now. "You slept right through my road rage."

"Eh?" Soi exclaimed her head snapping round to face Yoruichi. "What do you mean road rage?"

"It's nothing, though I may be getting sued."

"What?"

"I'm kidding," Yoruichi chuckled. "About the getting sued, I did have a minor road rage incident. Come on, let's get going."

Soi opened the car door and climbed out, stretching her muscles as she did so. It felt really good to be up and out in the fresh air again. She looked around, it was still light but she could see that the sun had begun its decent and night would fall soon. There weren't many cars in the car park she noticed, and Yoruichi's was easily the flashiest there. When she thought about it, the place didn't look anything like what she had expected; the hotel was small and quite modest. For some reason, that Soi couldn't quite fathom at this point, she had been expecting a large, luxurious complex; somewhere where only the ridiculously rich could afford to stay.

She walked to the edge of the car park, the hotel was situated on a hill and from up here she could see a village that winded all the way down to the sea where small boats were moored for the night. She felt Yoruichi move up next to her.

"Pretty, isn't it?" She said nudging Soi with her elbow.

"Yeah, I guess," Soi replied. "Everything seems so relaxed here, and quiet too. I'm not sure I'll be able to get to sleep without the noise of the city." All she could hear was the birds singing quietly and the gentle wind through the trees; nothing compared to the traffic or people of Tokyo.

"You don't sleep anyway," Yoruichi said with a shrug. "Well, apparently you sleep in the car. Maybe I'll just drive you round the block so you can drop off."

"What and you'll just leave me in there over night?"

"Of course not," Yoruichi said sounding slightly insulted that she'd do something like that. "I'd carry you back up to the room."

Soi scoffed at that. "No, you wouldn't."

Yoruichi turned to face her, her hands planted on her hips and her eyebrow arched in indignation. And the, slowly, ever so slowly, a smirk crawled up her features and mischief danced in her eyes.

"What's that loo-whaa!" Soi's question was cut short as Yoruichi grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her towards her. The world lurched and Soi found herself upside down, her view engulfed by Yoruichi's back. It only took her a moment to realise that she was slung over the older woman's shoulder.

"What the hell! Put me down!" Soi cried out her legs kicking uselessly in the air.

"See, you're really light," Yoruichi said calmly. "I'd have no problem carrying you."

"It wasn't an issue of my weight!" Soi yelled. "I just didn't think you'd do it cause of the effort involved."

"Oh," Yoruichi paused. "You saying that I'm not considerate enough to carry you to bed if you needed it?"

"When would I ever need you to carry me to bed?"

"Dunno," Yoruichi shrugged her shoulder digging carelessly into Soi's stomach. "But I would. Even if you weighed twice as much as this I still would."

"That's very nice of you, but I don't need it!" Soi began struggling again. "Now put me down!"

Yoruichi seemed to consider it, humming as she nodded her head from side to side. "Nope! I quite like this."

"Yoruichi!" Soi shrieked. She really didn't want people to see her like this, common sense should have told her to stop screaming then, but something about the situation just encouraged the reaction from her.

Yoruichi ignored all her protests and struggles and walked back towards the car, where she picked up their bag and then made her way towards the hotel. Soi stopped struggling, her hands clasping tightly to Yoruichi's hips in an attempt to stop from swaying. She could feel her face heating up, whether it was from embarrassment or because all her blood was pooling in her head she wasn't sure, but she was sure that she was starting to feel dizzy.

"Yoruichi," She said her voice thick and desperate. "Put me down, I don't feel well."

Yoruichi paused. "You're not going to throw up again, are you?"

"Just put me down."

Slowly, Yoruichi set Soi down on her feet, though she kept her hands on Soi's shoulders in an effort to steady her. Straightening up, the world swam and dizziness threatened to overwhelm Soi as she swayed on her feet. She closed her eyes and waited for everything to settle.

"You okay?" Yoruichi asked.

Soi opened her eyes to find Yoruichi ducked down and looking at her in concern.

"I'm fine, just dizzy is all."

"I didn't mean to..."

Soi shook her head and smiled. "It's not your fault."

"Still," Yoruichi gave a shrug, her head turned away; it was almost as if she felt bad about it. She took hold of Soi's hand. "Come on, once we get booked in you can lie down."

"That sounds good," Soi agreed.

/\/\/\

The room was simple but comfortable, and a far cry from the usual pomp that seemed to surround families that had more money than sense. Despite that it had still been early, they had opted to spend the night in, while Yoruichi had gone out and procured some food, Soi had hugged the bed and felt sorry for herself. Yoruichi had been unusually quiet and reclusive, her strange behaviour continuing throughout the night.

When they had gone to bed they had started off entangled together in a comfortable knot, and then Yoruichi had slowly, and very carefully, shifted away from Soi. As the night had progressed, so too had Yoruichi's migration across the bed, until finally, she had ended up hanging halfway out of it.

Soi honestly didn't know whether to be hurt by this or slightly amused. When she had woken up, Yoruichi was perched precariously on the very edge of the bed, snoring away and completely oblivious to how close she was to falling out of bed. Soi hadn't been able to resist putting her foot to Yoruichi's ass and giving her that final shove that sent her to the ground in a heap. Yoruichi had managed to sleep right through that too.

They had spent the morning exploring the village. It was warmer here than up in Tokyo, though the wind was stronger and had forced Soi to tuck her braids down the back of her coat since there constantly flapping behind her was annoying. She walked just behind Yoruichi, following her as she pointed various out landmarks and other things that she seemed to feel warranted Soi's attention. Yoruichi seemed to know the area very well and also some of the people, who greeted her with respect and received a friendly greeting in return. It wasn't too surprising; Yoruichi had said that she visited every year and Soi guessed that she had probably spent some time here as a child.

Eventually they made their way to the graveyard. Yoruichi stopped walking and took a moment to light up a cigarette.

"Well, here we are," She needlessly pointed out. "Let's get this over with."

_Get this over with..? _It didn't really seem like the right attitude to have when visiting your mother's grave. Soi wondered if Yoruichi was being forcefully cheerful, but she couldn't tell.

They walked up a narrow gravel trail, hundreds of well kept graves on either side of them. Soi kept close to Yoruichi, who set quite a quick pace as though she really did want to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. Soi remained quiet, her eyes locked on the back of Yoruichi's head as she marched along the path. The sky was grey and the clouds dark; and Soi thought that it might rain later tonight.

"Down here," Yoruichi said turning to her left. She quick-walked along the graves, her head occasionally turning as though she was counting them or checking them off on mental checklist. She stopped suddenly, and Soi nearly walked into the back of her.

"Here," Yoruichi turned to a small unremarkable gravestone. "Here she is in all her glory."

The words sounded all wrong to Soi, spoken with distaste and the barest hint of hatred, accompanied by the completely blank look Yoruichi was giving the small white headstone it left Soi feeling faintly disturbed.

Soi crouched down and glanced over the writing on the grave, it was short and straight to the point, there was nothing written that suggested that this woman was loved. Many of the other graves, Soi had noticed, had a Haiku etched on them, mentions of the surviving family and other sentimentalities. This grave bore only a name and a date, and that was it. It shocked Soi to realise that until this moment she hadn't actually known Yoruichi's mother's name. Shouldn't she have read it in a paper or heard it mentioned somewhere?

"... Keiko..." Soi frowned for a moment, testing the name in her lips, and then pushed herself to her feet. "I'm sorry. I just realised that I didn't know her name."

"I doubt I ever mentioned it to you," Yoruichi replied. "It's not important. The name never suited her. Right," Yoruichi clapped her hands together. "I'm here, I've paid my respects, let's go!"

"Huh?" Soi spun round as Yoruichi walked past her. "That's it?"

Yoruichi stopped. "Yeah, that's it. What, were you expecting me to bring flowers or something?"

"No, but I was expecting a bit more than just a cursory glance," Soi answered. "That's your mother; don't you think you owe her a bit more than this?"

"No, I don't," Yoruichi's voice was cold. "I don't owe her anything. But, if it'll make you happy..." She walked back over to the grave and stared down at it before giving it a half-hearted kick. "I'm alive and well, you're still dead which is probably for the best. I'd like to think you're in a better place, but we both know that's a lie." She paused, her head tilted to the side as though she was considering her next words carefully. "See you next year."

Soi stared at her as Yoruichi casually waved at the gravestone and then turned on her heel and stalked past her muttering something about lunch. This hadn't unfolded at all how Soi had thought it would. Looking down at the grave, Soi felt an odd pang of sympathy. She knelt down.

"What did you do?" She wondered aloud as her fingertips brushed along the engraved words. Standing and turning, she hurried after Yoruichi, her thoughts awhirl with what had just transpired. She wasn't sure if she could ever remember Yoruichi mentioning her mother before, and she didn't have any pictures of her at all – did she really hate her that much?

Yoruichi was waiting for Soi at the gates to the graveyard, her hands tucked into her pockets and her head bowed. When Soi caught up with her she turned silently and started slowly walking back towards the village.

"Was she from here?" Soi asked.

"Huh?"

"Your mother, was she from around here?"

"Nope," Yoruichi answered. "She used to holiday here a lot though. She owned a house near the coast, and this was probably her favourite place. That's why we buried her here."

"Oh, okay," Soi felt a little disappointed by Yoruichi's answer, she was hoping for a bit more information. "What happened to the house?"

"It's still there. Probably a bit of a mess by now though," She explained. "I actually own it now. She left everything to me when she died, all her money and clothes and her homes and whatever else. I never bothered employing anyone to look after the house and I don't go there."

Yoruichi may as well have been talking about the weather for the way her voice sounded, detached and so close to normalcy that it made Soi feel a little uncomfortable.

"Did you used to go there with her?"

Yoruichi stopped walking. "What's with all the questions?"

"I'm just curious," Soi answered. She turned her head away from Yoruichi, feeling oddly guilty for digging around in what was probably a sensitive subject.

Yoruichi sighed. "Yes, I used to come here with her. What else do you want to know?"

Soi shifted on her feet under the flat stare Yoruichi was giving her. It wasn't that Yoruichi seemed upset by her questions, more annoyed as though she didn't think the subject deserved any attention.

"What was she like?"

"Selfish."

"Ah," Soi looked away, unsure if she should ask her next question. She took a deep breath and exhaled; steeling herself for whatever reaction she would receive form Yoruichi. "Why are you so angry with her?"

Yoruichi was silent for a moment, her eyes flicked to the ground before returning to gaze at Soi. "I'm not."

"You are," Soi insisted. "Look at the way you're acting."

"No, I'm not angry," Yoruichi turned from Soi and started walking again, her head bowed and her feet dragging. Soi stayed where she was, watching Yoruichi as she walked aimlessly, occasionally kicking at the ground like a child. Eventually she stopped, her head tipping back and her eyes closed. Her mouth was clenched shut; her lips a thin line and down turned though, and even from here, Soi could see the barest quiver run up the muscle in her neck.

"I'm disappointed," Yoruichi said eventually. Her eyes opened slowly and she exhaled, her whole body seemed to wilt. "I'm not angry with her, not really. It's just that... She shouldn't have died the way she did. She just gave up; she didn't want to live so she just gave up."

"She killed herself?"

Yoruichi snorted. "No. She was too much of a coward to do that," Yoruichi turned to face Soi and exhaled, running a hand though her hair. "It's a long and boring story, you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yes," Soi nodded.

"Fair enough," She motioned with her hand for Soi to join her. "But over lunch. There's a great little place by the docks that serves fresh fish caught first thing. My treat."

"Isn't it always your treat?" Soi questioned, hurrying over to join Yoruichi. She was pleased that Yoruichi didn't pull away when she took hold of her hand, lacing her fingers through Yoruichi's.

/\/\/\

Yoruichi didn't start talking until she'd finished eating, even then taking time to wash her food down with a couple of drinks. They had eaten in silence, Soi occasionally glancing up at Yoruichi, trying to figure out what she was thinking. Ever since they had got back together, Yoruichi had been constantly changing, and Soi was finding it difficult to keep up.

She still had that air of superiority surrounding her, that effortless confidence that had drawn so many people to her, and had at times bordered on arrogance. The arrogance was gone; it was as though Yoruichi had been dealt a sharp lesson in humility and had decided to reign herself in lest she crush the mortals that surrounded her. She still radiated strength, always looking determined and focussed even when she was anything but.

The strength was now restrained, Soi decided as she watched Yoruichi chug back a bottle of some foul tasting beer. It was as though Yoruichi had dropped a wall, the pretence of who she was. It was strange, Soi didn't think she'd ever noticed before that the quips, the flirtatious attitude and the whole Shihouin Yoruichi package had been a front. It was a pre-emptive defence against everyone else.

Or perhaps she was reading too much into it.

Relaxed, was the word she was looking for, Soi thought. Yoruichi still had a flirty gait to her, still happily quipped back at comments, but they had lost the provocative bite that they used to have. Soi liked that Yoruichi felt she could drop these walls, liked that she had been the one to break them down, even if that was a smug self-serving thought.

What Soi didn't like though, was that along with her lowered defences, Yoruichi had apparently picked up a conscious. Not that a conscious was a bad thing, only in Yoruichi it seemed to encourage her to shoulder an unhealthy amount of blame on herself. The way she kept pulling away, shying from Soi's touch at odd intimate moments, was clearly her way of punishing herself.

It made Soi angry; at Masaru, Kaien and herself, that Yoruichi felt that she needed to be punished at all. That she placed blame on her own shoulders for actions that were well out of her control. And here Soi was, opening up a can of worms and dredging up the past, no doubt about to make Yoruichi feel even worse.

It had started raining just as Soi had predicted it would.

Yoruichi gently placed the now empty bottle on the table.

"So," She started, rubbing at the back of her neck with her free hand. The other still clasped the bottle, tightly, as though it offered some kind of comfort. "My mother, where do I begin?"

Soi kept quiet, carefully watching Yoruichi and gauging her reactions. She decided that if it looked like this would be too much for Yoruichi, that she'd stop her. She didn't really need to hear this; it was only to satisfy her own curiosity.

Yoruichi's brow furrowed and she licked at her lips. "Do you love your mother, Soi?"

The question surprised her, and Soi stared for a moment her eyes wide. "Uh, yes, of course," she answered. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't like the woman. But, she's my mother, of course I love her."

"Right," Yoruichi nodded. "Thought so. See, I don't love mine. Some days I think I hate her, but most I just pretend that she never existed. I don't think about her unless she's brought to my attention."

"What did she do?"

"She died. It's actually that simple, she died and I can't forgive her for that. She left me."

"Yoruichi, you can't blame someone for dying. And I'm sure that if she had the choice, then she would have stayed with you."

"Sweet of you to say so," Yoruichi smiled sadly as she spoke. "She had a choice. We all have a choice. See, my mother was young when she married my father, eighteen. He was twenty-two years her senior, that's a huge age difference. It's not difficult to see what attracted them to each other though, he was rich and powerful, she was beautiful." Yoruichi paused, taking time to order some more drinks before she continued. "I think she loved him though, in her own way.

"She had just turned twenty when she had me. I guess for a while they played happy families, he was still only the heir to the company, my grandfather was clinging rather desperately to life. So, for my early life, I had both parents around. I don't really remember what it was like, I was very young. I was four when grandfather kicked the bucket and my father took over."

Yoruichi lapsed into silence again as the waitress arrived with their drinks. She chewed on her lip as she considered her next words.

"Naturally we didn't see dad around so much after that. So it was just me and _her,_ and of course a small army of servants. And that was fine, we were happy. And then one day Kisuke came into our lives."

Soi's brow furrowed. Yoruichi took this moment of silence to light up a cigarette, while Soi tried to figure out what Urahara had to do with all this.

"His mother – Naoto – worked for my father. Well, she still works for him; she's just in a much better position now. Anyway, she was a single mother, but she didn't let that stop her. She was, and still is, very ambitious. I think the idea was for Naoto to get into my father's good books by being chummy with my mother. It didn't hurt that her son made a convenient playmate for me either."

"I'm guessing it didn't work out like that," Soi said.

Yoruichi laughed humourlessly. "No, it didn't," she flicked her cigarette at the ashtray. "Kisuke and I, as you know, were friends straight away. He used to get me in so much trouble." This time she laughed for real, a distant look in her eyes.

"But your mother and Urahara Naoto didn't get on?"

"Haven't a clue," Yoruichi shrugged. "I guess not. I didn't pay too much attention to the adults; they were boring compared to Kisuke. Eventually though, Naoto stopped spending time with mother. Kisuke would be dropped off in the morning and she'd call round to pick him up later on. It was kind of like she was using us as a crèche. My mother, didn't like Kisuke, not in the slightest. She didn't like me spending so much time with him, but she couldn't separate us because father was all for us being friends." Yoruichi frowned, clearly becoming lost in her own thoughts for a moment. She shook her head. "Eventually, she started to spend more and more time on her own. Kisuke and I were left with the servants. My father eventually hired a nanny to watch us. Mother just sort of faded from my life."

Soi felt slightly disturbed. She wasn't sure if she wanted Yoruichi to continue; telling the story clearly wasn't causing her distress, but she did have an odd, almost confused, look in her eyes.

Yoruichi exhaled. "Mother spent less and less time with me; eventually she just stayed in her room. I was taken to visit her, but I think I found it boring and would make a fuss so they stopped bringing me to see her," She stubbed out the cigarette. "After some time, mother didn't even get out of bed. My father was angry, I remember him screaming at her one night. Still, not even that could stir her. She just gave up."

"Yoruichi..."

"And then, one day, my father took me aside and told me, quite plainly, that she had died."

Soi stared at her. Yoruichi didn't seem at all bothered; she picked up her cigarettes and lit up another one.

"B-but, what did she die of?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "Stupidity."

"That's your mother you're talking about!" Soi felt more than a little horrified.

It took a moment for Yoruichi to react to her words. First she took a long drag from her cigarette, exhaling the smoke calmly, and then she set the cigarette down in the ashtray. Her eyes flickered to Soi's and then she sighed, her hand rubbing at her forehead.

"I knew it was a mistake to tell you."

"Huh?"

Yoruichi looked away from Soi, her eyes clouded and an odd expression pinched expression to her face. She bit her lip as her hand tapped away on the table top.

"It's like you left out half the story," Soi tried to explain. "I don't understand what she died of. People don't just die."

"She stopped eating, refused to get up..." Yoruichi almost looked ashamed. "She just faded away."

"Oh," Soi wished she hadn't pushed the subject. "Sorry."

"I'm not," Yoruichi picked up her cigarette and returned it to her lips. "Please don't give me that look."

"What look?"

"Like you're judging me," Yoruichi turned away from her. "The only person who gets it is Kisuke, probably because he was there and saw what she was like."

"You make it sound like she was a horrible person, that she did something awful."

Yoruichi seemed to mull this thought over, balancing her cigarette on pouted lips as she tipped her head from side to side.

"Something must have happened to make her like that," Soi insisted.

"She was just acting like a brat," Yoruichi said, her lip curling in distaste. "She didn't get her way and took a strop over it. So she was a little lonely, it's not the end of the world. Rather than dealing with the situation she chose to run from it. What good does hiding away and feeling sorry for yourself do? I can't stand people like that, you know. People who'd rather throw themselves a pity party and wallow in their own grief than face life... whoa!" Yoruichi broke off her rant and stared at Soi. "What the hell is that look for?"

Soi swallowed. "What look?"

"Are you okay?" Yoruichi leaned across the table. "You look like you just got slapped."

"I'm fine," Soi lied. She felt suddenly sick, ashamed and completely terrified for some reason. Her hands gripped at her jeans nervously, thankfully hidden from Yoruichi's view by the table.

_What's wrong with me? She can't stand people like... that? I don't do that, do I? Why am I worrying over this? I don't do that. I don't!_

A repeating clicking noise disturbed Soi's train of thought.

She blinked, her eyes focussing in Yoruichi who was leaning right across the table, her hand in front of Soi's eye and her fingers clicking.

"Shingu to Soi," she called. "Are you still with me?"

"Y-yeah," Soi pushed Yoruichi's hand back from her face. "I was just thinking."

"Thinking? That must have been some thought, you practically shut down."

Soi forced a small laugh. "Sorry. It's just what you said kind of struck me."

"It did?" Yoruichi slumped back down in her seat. She still had a concerned look to her face, but she didn't question Soi any further on her sudden lapse in attention. "So," She breathed. "That's the story of my early life and of my mother. I don't expect you to understand, I get that it's weird."

"I think I get it," Soi shifted in her seat, not wanting to continue discussing Keiko since she actually didn't get what Yoruichi was so angry about. It all seemed to be so ... sad... to her. It struck her as odd. Usually she was inclined to agree with Yoruichi concerning people who were weak. They were to be scorned at, disregarded as unworthy. And yet, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for this woman whom she never knew.

She was vaguely worried that she identified with Shihouin Keiko.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Yoruichi stood up and made her way around the table, stopping in front of Soi. She placed the back of her hand to Soi's brow. "You've gone very pale, and you seemed to go a bit green before. Maybe it wasn't travel sickness yesterday, maybe you're just not very well."

"I'm fine, really I am," Soi reassured Yoruichi.

"Okay," Yoruichi brushed her fingers back through Soi's hair. "I'm sorry; this has been a crappy weekend so far. Somewhere between you're vomiting escapades and my depressing tale I kinda lost sight of why I asked you here in the first place."

"Vomiting escapades?" Soi repeated, scowling at Yoruichi.

She grinned. "So far it's been the highlight of the trip."

"Urgh!" Soi pushed Yoruichi back from her. "Not for me, it wasn't." Her scowl morphed into a quizzical look. "Wait. You had a reason for inviting me here?"

"Of course, why else would I have brought you?"

"You enjoy my company?"

"Well, yeah, but I'd enjoy it more if you managed to keep you're breakfast down," She stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "Kidding! I'm kidding."

"No you're not," Soi turned away from her. "I thought that you asked me here because you wanted to share part of your life." She considered this a moment, her face scrunched up."Or because I complained that you don't tell me anything." The last part was said as a joke, though part of Soi believed that it was the truth.

Yoruichi rubbed at the back of her neck and seemed to grimace. "I suppose, both are true. If you hadn't said anything then I probably wouldn't have bothered asking you."

It was a little too honest, and Soi found herself wincing.

_She wouldn't have bothered? _Soi wasn't sure if she was glad she'd pushed Yoruichi now. She was starting to feel like she was excess baggage, and that Yoruichi didn't really want her here.

"I'm glad you did though, and I'm glad I asked," Yoruichi continued, oblivious to the discomfort her earlier words had caused Soi. She moved back to her seat and sat down. "See, I wanted us to have this weekend to ourselves, away from all the drama back home."

Slowly, Soi raised her eyes to Yoruichi's and was shocked to see a pained look reflected in her golden orbs.

"Everything's been so hectic lately, we never seem to spend any time where it's just us, enjoying each other's company. I miss that." Yoruichi looked away, as though she was uncomfortable with the admission. She rubbed her bicep with her hand, and then shrugged. Her gaze settled back on Soi. "I didn't even bring my phone with me. I want this weekend to be just about us."

There was an alarm going off in the back of Soi's head. Something was wrong, she realised, very, very wrong. Yoruichi was sitting back, almost hugging herself, apprehension colouring her gaze. The way her eyes were boring into Soi's was almost as if she was begging Soi to understand. There was a hesitation to the way she spoke, like she was afraid of what Soi might think or do.

It was very unsettling.

Soi cleared her throat. "You left your phone?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to be disturbed," she dropped her hands from her sides, placing one on the table. "There's some ... stuff... I want to talk to you about. Later. Much later. I kind of wanted some time for us first."

Soi forced a smile. "Sure. That makes sense," She managed to keep her uneasiness from her voice. Her hand reached across the table towards Yoruichi's. "I'm sorry I asked about your mother." Now why had she said _that_?

Yoruichi didn't seem bothered by her words though, actually something like relief crossed her face. "Don't be. I'm honestly not bothered by it," She smiled, her fingers curling around Soi's. "I promise that the rest of the weekend will be more fun."

"If you say so," Soi smiled back at her, ignoring the tension she could feel in her hand, the look of worry in Yoruichi's hands and also ignoring her own growing sense of dread.

* * *

**This was one of those chapters were next to nothing happened. Seriously, I don't know how I manage it. I had originally intended for the next chapter and this one to be a single chapter, but there was such a shift in tone that it was really jarring (not to mention freakishly long) so I decided to split them. Hopefully it'll work better this way.**

**The next chapter may be slightly depressing... Or it might be unreasonably cheerful!**

**Thank you for the reviews and support! Especially for the last chapter, I was honestly really worried how it would be received. I'm glad it went down so well, seeing as how there are going to be other chapters with no Yoruichi or Soi in them.**

_**Where We Used to Play **_**by AFI and taken from **_**Crash Love [deluxe edition] **_**This album grew on me, much like a fungus.**


	25. Learning to Let Go

Learning to Let Go

_Stupid, stupid, STUPID!_

It was this thought that plagued Yoruichi's mind throughout the day as she had wandered through the small village with Soi at her side. It had become a mantra, drumming away at the inside of her skull. Constantly reminding her of what a mess she had managed to make of things. She had a headache.

They had finished up at the restaurant last night and, once the rain had stopped, slowly made their way back to the hotel despite the early hour. Yoruichi had forced herself to keep up the pretence of enjoying herself. It had been a struggle to do so, and she had the nagging feeling that she hadn't fooled Soi in the slightest. Every so often she had caught the girl looking at her in an odd, almost sad, way. Guilt and fear had gnawed away at Yoruichi's conscious throughout the night and she hadn't allowed herself to be near, to be with, Soi since she didn't deserve to be.

She had no right to ask, to claim, to take anything from Soi, so she denied herself even the warmth of being close to her.

It was raining again; large heavy drops falling from dark grey clouds. Yoruichi could hear it pounding down on the bridge that she and Soi were currently sheltered under. Yoruichi was leaning against the stone wall, her head bowed and a fresh cigarette perched on her lips. She seemed to be smoking far too much lately; but she figured that it was the only suitable outlet for her tumultuous thoughts. Normally when she was worried, or even slightly bothered by something, she could rely on Kuukaku to advise her. She didn't even need to tell Kuukaku what was wrong, her friend always just knew and had a way of simplifying things so that Yoruichi could easily figure out the right course to take.

Not that she usually followed Kuukaku's advice; she just liked to hear it.

And now she couldn't seek Kuukaku out, her friend was no longer available to her.

'_It should have been you.'_

Yoruichi closed her eyes and tried to block out the sound of her friend's voice. She lifted her hand to her lips and plucked the cigarette from them, breathing out a long stream of smoke in its wake. The rain wasn't letting up, it was still hammering down. Opening her eyes, Yoruichi could see Soi standing with her back to her, standing near the edge of the bridge. She was watching the rain as it poured down.

Yoruichi wasn't entirely sure why, but seeing Soi standing there made her ache.

She had, rather successfully, trapped herself. She had done it on purpose, leading Soi out here, letting Soi into a very private part of her life, explaining only in part her reasons for bringing Soi out here – it was all a calculated move to trap herself in a situation where she couldn't possibly wheedle out of telling Soi the truth.

Of course she had trapped Soi here with her. If it all ended – and Yoruichi was positive that it would - then Soi was effectively stuck out here. Yoruichi had only realised her mistake the previous night and had been forced to hide some money in Soi's clothes. Yoruichi doubted that Soi would want her to give her a lift home.

_...home... _meaning her own apartment. Where would Soi go? There seemed to be too many questions and Yoruichi wasn't even sure where to begin considering them.

She brought her cigarette back to her lips and took another drag. She still had her eyes on Soi, who seemed to be very interested in the rain. Yoruichi couldn't help but feel that Soi was deliberately avoiding her.

'_She'll not wait forever.'_

_Shut up Kaien, you're dead. _Yoruichi scowled down at her own feet as the memory of Kaien's words echoed through her mind. Easy for him to say, he wasn't the one who had to find a way to explain it all. She wished she hadn't thought of Kaien, it only brought an unpleasant feeling that she was never too sure how to handle.

Dropping her cigarette to the ground she let out a long sigh.

"Something wrong?" Soi asked, turning to face her.

Yoruichi shrugged. "Not really. Just thinking."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Kaien," Yoruichi said and then cringed.

"Oh," Soi turned away again. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Yoruichi wasn't entirely sure that she did. Suddenly everything felt tense. Soi was still looking away, her posture was stiff and her fists clenched. Yoruichi kept her eyes on her, trying to decide what was going on in her mind. Soi had definitely picked up on that Yoruichi was distancing herself from her. In return, the young Chinese girl was acting stand-offish – almost as if she was trying to replicate Yoruichi's actions.

Finally, Yoruichi shrugged. "Not really."

Soi's shoulders slumped. Clearly she had wanted Yoruichi to share her thoughts with her. They remained silent for a moment; Yoruichi desperately wishing she hadn't just smoked her last cigarette. Finally Soi broke the uncomfortable silence.

"How long had you known that Kaien was ill?" She asked. Her arm was snaked around herself, as if she was attempting to hug herself. She turned her head and looked over her shoulder at Yoruichi.

Yoruichi sighed again and pushed herself away from the wall. "A few years," She replied.

Soi nodded and looked back out at the rain.

"He told me on New Year though that he was getting worse," Yoruichi said making her way slowly over to Soi. She was almost afraid to close the distance between them. If she was too close then she would be tempted to touch her, to hold her, and then her resolve to tell the truth would weaken. "It's stupid, we knew that he would eventually get worse, but I was still shocked when he told me. He wasn't responding to the treatment and was declining at a much faster rate than expected."

She stopped next to Soi and watched the small girl, took note of the emotions that played across her face. She was frowning.

"He told you that on New Year?" She asked.

"Yeah."

She turned to face Yoruichi. "On your birthday?" She sounded slightly outraged.

"I don't think he planned it that way," Yoruichi retorted, feeling strangely protective all of a sudden. It almost sounded as if Soi was accusing Kaien of some misdemeanour. There was definitely anger lacing her tone. "He just received some bad news and needed to share it. A burden's easier to bear when shared, right?"

Soi scowled. "That's not the point. He could have talked to someone else. Instead he selfishly dumped his problems on you, on your birthday no less! It isn't right; he shouldn't have ruined your night like that."

Yoruichi opened her mouth to retort, feeling anger brimming at the surface, but then she closed her mouth with a snap. She exhaled and shook her head, a rueful smile playing on her lips.

"I honestly don't know how you manage to be so indignant over these things," She looked out at the rain; not as heavy as before but not looking like it would stop anytime soon. "Given how the rest of the night panned out, his worsening condition was the least of my troubles."

Soi's looked down at her feet. "You were acting different when you came back from speaking to him. You were so happy before then and afterwards..." She trailed off and sighed. Raising her head, she looked at Yoruichi. "It felt like you were trying to avoid me. And ever since that night you've been weird with me. I can understand that you were grieving, but you wouldn't talk to me about it. And even after that, you were distanced. It was like you didn't want me there."

Yoruichi swallowed. "It's been hard month," She said. She wondered if Soi blamed Kaien for Yoruichi's change in behaviour. "What with the attack, Kaien dying, and then Kuukaku not speaking to me. I'm not trying to make excuses but, I'm a little unsure how to deal with it all."

Soi was still scowling. Confusion flickered in her eyes. "Kuukaku's not speaking to you?"

_Shit! _Yoruichi had clean forgotten that she had neglected to tell Soi about her and Kuukaku's falling out. Now she would have to explain it all.

"Why isn't Kuukaku speaking to you?" Soi questioned.

"Well," Yoruichi felt herself cringing again. She rubbed at her forehead with her thumb. "We haven't been speaking since Kaien's funeral."

"I fucking knew something happened!" Soi seethed. She looked away from Yoruichi, her jaw clenched. "We left in such a hurry and you refused to talk about it. Why didn't you just tell me what happened? You're so stupid!" Soi spun away from Yoruichi, kicking at the ground petulantly.

"I didn't want you to worry," Yoruichi mumbled.

_Liar, _She mentally chastised herself.

"I worry more when you keep things from me," Soi retorted, looking very annoyed. She let out a short, angry, sigh; calling an end to her mini tantrum. "Why did you fall out?"

"We were talking. About Kaien as if you couldn't guess," Yoruichi started, the words felt like they had to be dragged out of her mouth. "About his... condition. And what she had to deal with. When I was leaving she said something."

"What?"

"It doesn't really matter," Yoruichi felt a strange urge to protect her friend. She was almost positive that Soi would react negatively with what Kuukaku had said. Sighing, Yoruichi licked her lips before replying. "She said that it should have been me."

Soi's face was blank.

"I'm not sure if she meant that I should have been the one who was killed at New Year or if she meant that I should have... That I should, instead of Kaien, I should have been..." Yoruichi's mouth had gone dry. She couldn't finish she realised. She had thought about Kuukaku's words nearly non-stop, she had gone over the implication of what she meant. "All that matters is that..."

_She was right_

"... I should have been the one who died."

It felt odd to have said it out loud. She felt a little lighter, though there was a strange pressure in her chest and her throat was constricted. She swallowed, willing moisture back into her mouth.

Opposite her, Soi stood perfectly still, her expression blank. Her stormy eyes were locked on Yoruichi's, though the Goddess couldn't read anything in them. Her brow inclined, just ever so slightly.

"I'll kill her," Soi said flatly. She turned and marched out from beneath the bridge and into the rain.

"Huh? Wait, Soi!" Yoruichi turned, watching the younger one stalk off. She had expected Soi to be angry, to make a few blustering threats, but she hadn't expected her to sound so coldly serious.

Yoruichi grimaced as she dashed out from under the bridge and into the rain. Soi wasn't that far ahead, but was walking at a fast pace. Yoruichi closed the gap between them and seized her by the elbow, pulling her to a stop.

"What, are you going to march all the way back to Tokyo?" She demanded.

"I'm just thinking," Soi replied darkly.

"About killing Kuukaku?"

"Yes. With a shovel."

"Why a shovel?" Yoruichi knew that it was the wrong question to ask, but she couldn't help but satisfy her own curiosity.

Soi tipped her head to the side, gazing off into the distance, no doubt running the murder scenario through her mind. "It's multi-functional. I can kill her with it and then dig her grave. It means I have fewer tools to carry."

"Oh," Yoruichi let go of Soi's arm. Unsure if Soi was joking or not, Yoruichi was starting to feel a little frightened. "Look, I'm not angry with Kuukaku."

"I am."

"Yes, I can see that," Yoruichi muttered. She swiped her now wet hair back from her face, silently cursing the rain. "Let's just leave it, okay?"

Soi shook her head. "She shouldn't have said it."

"But she was-"

"Don't you dare say she was right!" Soi yelled. "Why are you just accepting this? Aren't you angry?"

"No. I understand where she was coming from," Yoruichi explained quietly. "It's only natural. She blames me for his death. After all it was my fault."

"No it wasn't!"

"It was. If I had-"

"If, if if!" Soi cried. "When did you start second guessing yourself? You never questioned your actions before. The only person to blame for Kaien's death was Kaien himself."

Yoruichi's eyes widened at that. She stared at Soi, trying to ascertain if the girl had meant it. Her eyes were locked on Yoruichi's in grim determination. Yoruichi could feel the familiar anger that only Soi seemed to be able to coax out of her brimming at the surface.

She opened her mouth to reply, possibly to angrily yell at Soi for insulting the memory of her friend, but the girl spoke first.

"Stop being so self-centred," She said her voice low. "It wasn't your fault and you know it."

Yoruichi's mouth closed with a snap. It was as though Soi's words had taken away her wind. She couldn't think what to say, it was as if her mind had gone shockingly blank. Instead she stepped back from Soi and looked away. She felt cold. Her hair, wet from the rain, was plastered to her face and neck.

She shivered.

"Are you okay?" Soi asked. All the fire she had exhibited earlier seemed to have burned out. Her voice sounded tentative, and she seemed to be shrinking in on herself.

"No," Yoruichi sighed. "I'm not okay."

She didn't think she'd been less okay in her entire life. It all felt wrong; backwards and completely out of order. Self-centred? She hadn't thought of it that way. Was she being conceited by monopolising the guilt?

Did she really believe that Kaien's death was her fault? Or was it only that she thought that was what she should be feeling?

She closed her eyes and thought back to that fateful night.

"...Yoruichi..?"

Something small and cold took hold of Yoruichi's hand. She opened her eyes and glanced down; Soi's hand held her own. Yoruichi let out several shaky breaths as she raised her head to look at Soi, to see the confusion and worry etched in her small face.

_I'm sorry, Kaien_

Slowly, Yoruichi extricated her hand from Soi's. "You're right. I was being conceited."

Soi's eyes widened slightly.

"It wasn't my fault that he was killed," She continued. "I was using it as a shield. Because it was easier for me to hide behind the guilt of that than to-" She broke off, unable to finish her sentence.

Another juddering breath escaped her. Quickly she walked away from Soi, leaving the hard tarmac of the road behind as she marched up the soggy bank that waylaid the road. She knew Soi was following her, she didn't need to look back, she could almost sense her presence. A couple of times she nearly lost her footing on the sodden grass.

She stopped suddenly. She could feel cool water trickle down the neck of her coat and down her back.

'_So, when you going to tell Shaolin you love her?'_

"I-" She didn't know where to start. All of her thoughts were jumbled. "I shouldn't have dragged you out here."

Turning, Yoruichi found Soi standing a couple of paces away. Her arms were hanging by her sides and she wore an unreadable expression on her face.

"It was selfish of me. But I am selfish."

Soi frowned slightly at her words but made no move to speak or to close the distance between them. Yoruichi was absurdly grateful for it; she didn't think she'd be able to cope if Soi was any closer to her.

"I'm not, I don't..." Yoruichi swallowed. She couldn't find the words she was looking for. Instead she looked at Soi; standing there soaked to the skin and scowling - and she ached. She wanted to tell her that her that she should smile more because it made her shine brighter than the sun, that she looked beautiful standing there in the rain with her hair plastered over her face, but she couldn't find the words.

"I don't want to make excuses but I am not a nice person. I've made mistakes, and I think that mine are possibly worse than others."

Soi's expression had changed to one of dread as though she knew what Yoruichi was going to say. Her whole body seemed to be caving in on itself. Her eyes were screwed shut and her head lowered her whole body tense as though she was expecting a fatal blow to be delivered.

Yoruichi could do nothing but steel herself. Her heart had lurched up into her throat and her stomach squirmed uncomfortably.

_This is it, Kaien_

There is no putting it off any longer, she realised. She had to do this.

Now.

"I love you."

She could still feel the rain lightly against her skin. Her eyes widened as she heard her own words. She looked to Soi and found looking equally as wide eyed in surprise.

"W-what?" Soi raised her head, daring to look at Yoruichi.

Yoruichi's heart was fluttering in her chest. It felt good. It felt warm. She took several breaths, marvelled at the feeling and at the sudden revelation her words had caused within herself.

"I – I love you," She repeated her eyes finding Soi's. A small breathless laugh escaped her and she found herself smiling. "I love you."

She hadn't meant to say it. She had intended to keep her feelings to herself, but now that she had let it slip she never wanted to recall them. She felt suddenly lighter, like a huge weight had been lifted from her back. And in response to this she straightened up, squaring her shoulders back. She tilted her head back and let the rain wash over her face.

And just like that she felt so many of her worries and fear and her doubts wash away. Everything felt clearer, that little bit simpler. She was about to share her revelation with Soi, or perhaps to tell her that she loved her again, when she was pre-empted by something hard thumping into her chest. She staggered back, her feet slipping on the muddy earth, and she found herself lying flat on her back and staring up at the grey sky.

She winced, pushing herself up and into a sitting position. Raising her head she found Soi standing before her, head bowed and both her hands outstretched in front of her.

"Okay, Ow," Yoruichi mumbled.

She could hear Soi's ragged breaths, could see the way her body shook and trembled and Yoruichi felt her brief joy melt away with worry.

"You can't – You just," Soi's arms dropped to her sides and she clenched her fists even as she quivered with what was looking more and more like fury. "You're so stupid!" she finally cried and Yoruichi flinched back from her.

"Soi, I..."

"Shut up!" Soi shouted. She was still shaking, her grey eyes now glaring at Yoruichi. "That's why you've been acting weird? Why you've been running away from me? Why do you have to do everything backwards?"

Yoruichi scrambled onto her knees, slipping in the mud as tried to move closer to Soi.

"You are so stupid," Soi repeated her earlier insult; her anger seemed to be fading. Her breaths were still ragged and she was still trembling. She exhaled, her head dropped and her shoulders sagged in defeat. "I thought that you were going to leave me."

She dropped to her knees before Yoruichi, her head resting on her shoulder.

Instinctively Yoruichi's arms wrapped around her and pulled her close, held her securely.

"I would never leave you," Yoruichi murmured. "I love you, Soi. I would _never_ leave you."

She felt Soi stiffen in her arms and then relax, a shudder wracking her small body as she buried her face further into Yoruichi's shoulder.

Yoruichi felt her smile return. "Are you crying?"

"No," Soi mumbled, her shoulders still shaking.

"Liar," Yoruichi laughed softly. She took Soi's face in her hands, her thumbs brushing across her tear streaked cheeks and brought her closer so that she could rest her forehead against hers. She stayed like that for a moment. She felt her heart jump when Soi's hand closed over her own and then settle warmth spreading though her.

She kissed her gently and didn't even notice that it was still raining.

* * *

**Well, it wasn't all that depressing, but nor was it unreasonably cheerful. Probably just the right mix.**

**Thank you for reading, and please leave a review on your way out ^^**


	26. Your Own Fears

Your Own Fears

Shinji scratched idly at his own behind as he walked from his bedroom. Suppressing a yawn, he pulled the door close, leaving it open a fraction since he knew that it had a tendency to stick shut when closed all the way. Dim morning light filtered through the blinds, casting a dull greyish glow to his apartment. He was still half asleep though, so he didn't mind too much. It would have been worse if bright sunlight was streaming through, blinding him into full alertness.

He rounded the counter into his kitchen, conjoined with his small, but fashionably furnished, living room, and set about filling the kettle. On mornings like this one breakfast in bed was always a good idea, nothing too heavy though, something light just to take the edge of hunger off. His first idea had been fruit, but he didn't appear to have any so he decided that toast would have to do. Of course the only bread he had was starting to go mouldy, so he was forced to spend a few minutes picking the greener bits off before he ungraciously bunged it in the toaster.

He yawned again as he waited for the toaster to do its thing, the kettle was steaming away nicely and pretty soon he'd have a feast fit for a king. He retrieved two mugs, one chipped, from a cupboard and set them down on the counter where he stared at them.

_Coffee or tea..? _He pondered. He really should have known this, but at this precise moment the information slipped his mind. _Tea _he decided and then set about trying to find some tea bags. It had been a long time since he'd been shopping, and his supplies on the bare essentials were running low. Eventually he found some; dropping a bag in each mug. Now he had to remember how she took it. Milk and sugar? Or one or the other, he didn't know. He decided to guess, it didn't really matter, even if he got it right she'd no doubt yell at him for it.

The thought brought a smile to his face.

The feast prepared, he took hold of the two mugs in one hand and the plate piled with mouldy toast in the other and turned to head back into the bedroom. He had just rounded the counter when he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him start.

"Nice undies," A familiar voice drawled.

"Gah!" Shinji jumped round, sloshing hot tea from his mug onto his hand. "Shit!" He danced back, the plate slipping from his grasp. It shattered loudly on the floor, his toast landing butter side down. He raised his head to glare at the intruder; Lisa sat in his favourite arm chair calmly reading the paper.

She turned to cast a judgmental eye over him and he felt suddenly self conscious.

"Its laundry day," He told her, all traces of humour abandoning him at this moment. Bad enough to be caught by Yadomaru Lisa in your underwear, worse to be caught wearing too tight Y-fronts.

"Of course it is," She stated in a disbelieving tone. She turned back to her paper.

"What are you doing here?" Shinji asked stepping over the shattered plate. He set the mugs he was holding down on the small coffee table, and sat down on the tatty couch situated next to Lisa. The couch was tatty by choice; he preferred to think of it as patchwork since it was made up from several different couches that had been made from several different sofas. His Frankenstein couch was the focal point of the room, and wanted to make damn well sure that people noticed his modern-art mash up. It didn't hurt that it was extremely comfortable to lie on either. "And how did you get in?"

"You didn't lock your door," Lisa informed him. "You never do, and as for what I'm doing here, isn't that obvious?"

"If it was obvious I wouldn't have asked."

Sighing, Lisa folded the paper and set it down on the table. She reached for one of the mugs and peered into it. "I don't like tea," She muttered before taking a sip. "Coffee is much better, especially in the morning."

"I didn't make it for you," He muttered, picking up the other mug and taking a healthy gulp.

"Hiyori prefers coffee too," Lisa said.

Shinji gritted his teeth. "What makes you think I made it for Hiyori?"

"Please, Shinji!" Lisa rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. I've known for months that you two have been running around behind all our backs. The pair of you are like school kids; all fire and arguments in public, behind closed doors though," She smirked at him. "It's all sweetness and love. Hence you're making her breakfast in bed."

She didn't make it sound sweet, the tone she spoke in suggested that she found it sickening.

"Fine," He bit off reluctantly. He wasn't exactly happy that she knew, but he would live with it. "But don't go telling anyone else."

"They all know. We've been placing bets on how long it would take the pair of you to actually suck up the guts to tell the rest of us."

"Oh," And here he was thinking they were being sneaky. "Why didn't anyone say anything?"

"Because we didn't want you to screw it up," Lisa told him honestly. "So we butted out. And it was quite the task getting Mashiro to keep her mouth shut. I hope you appreciate that. Frankly I could care less; so long as both do your job then it's all good. Hachi worries though."

"Hachi always worries," Shinji placed his mug back down on the table. "Now, tell me why you decided to break into my home and insult my choice in underwear."

"Do you know who Matsumoto Rangiku is?"

"Big boobed blonde, works at the Tenth bar," Shinji answered quickly. "Every straight man in Tokyo knows who she is. Why do you ask?"

"It would seem that she's gone missing," Lisa ran her finger round the rim of her mug as she spoke. Her eyes were perfectly blank and betrayed none of her thoughts or possible emotions. "She finished up work on the Friday night, walked back to her apartment and then failed to turn up to work the next morning."

"Perhaps she slept in."

"That was naturally the first thought and she was of course checked on. They found the apartment empty though. There was no sign of a break in and nothing was taken."

"How do they know she even made it back to her apartment?"

"She was walked home by one Hisagi Shuuhei. According to him she went through the front door of the building at least."

Shinji thought about it a moment. "How do we know that he didn't do something to her?"

"We don't. I looked into him though; college student apparently is a minor basket ball star and is expected to go big one day. Naturally the Gotei have their sticky fingers all over the boy."

Shinji wasn't at all surprised that Lisa had already looked into the kid, she was thorough like that.

"The only thing that makes me question him is that he used to be a student of Tousen Kaname."

"Ah," Shinji felt whatever like he might have had for the boy diminish immediately. "So he might have been in on it all? Do the Gotei know this?"

Lisa nodded. "They've taken him in and questioned him. From what I can gather from second-hand sources though, he's just very upset that she's disappeared. Apparently he harboured a slight crush on Matsumoto."

Shinji found himself frowning. While this was all very interesting, he failed to see what it had to do with him. This seemed like a problem for the Gotei 13 and something they should most definitely keep their noses out of.

"What does this have to do with us?"

"It doesn't strike you as odd that a higher up member of the Gotei goes missing?"

"It happens, she's not the first and she probably won't be the last," he said, leaning back in his seat. "Chances are she'll turn belly up in the Sumida River. It's very unfortunate for her, but only an idiot would assume that the Gotei don't have enemies."

Lisa frowned. Her finger ceased its circular movement around the rim of her mug. She set it down on the table, and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Normally I'd agree with you," she said. "Shit happens and all that. Not this time though. I think this was a calculated move by a very dangerous enemy."

"Hmm, she's a very popular figure right? Lots of fans and such. Taking her could never be a quiet affair, it's not one you could just sweep under the rug and hope that folk would forget. You think its provocation. Someone is taunting the Gotei 13."

"Exactly," Lisa agreed with a sharp nod of her head. "And so soon after Kaien was murdered too. It makes the Gotei look weak when they can't even protect their own."

"Well, this is all very bad news for them but I'm still failing to see what it has to do with us."

"Yoruichi-San's gone missing too."

Shinji choked on his tea. "What!"

"Yeah, she took off early from work on Thursday. I knew she was taking the weekend off for something or other, but it would appear that she's not in the city at all."

Now this was bad news. "Where is she?"

"If I knew that do you really think I'd be here," Lisa snapped. She sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "I think she's okay though. The Gotei's naturally in a panic over it. When Matsumoto was discovered to have gone missing they did a head count, made sure all those they're meant to be protecting were accounted for, and it turns out that Yoruichi is nowhere to be found. Not even Urahara-San knows where she is."

"You don't seem too worried."

"I'm not, like I said I think she's okay. Soi's with her, I think the pair of them just took off for the weekend. At least I hope they did."

Shinji relaxed. "She'll be fine with Soi," he agreed. "You haven't told the Gotei this though, have you?"

"No," Lisa slumped slightly. "I wasn't too sure if I should or not."

"Don't," Shinji shook his head. "It's not our job to keep tabs on their clients, only our own. And since we know she's not in any immediate danger, then we're still doing our job."

It was still an odd coincidence, both Yoruichi and Matsumoto going missing the same weekend. Shinji trusted Lisa's judgement though, and if she thought that Yoruichi was fine then he saw no reason to go stirring up a panic.

"Right," Lisa still looked troubled though. "I have some ideas on what happened to Matsumoto, do you mind if I look into it?"

"So long as you don't go digging up trouble, sure, knock yourself out."

"You know I don't go near trouble," She replied with a hint of a smile.

"Sure ya don't," Shinji grinned at her. "Trouble just seems to find you."

"Exactly," Lisa stood up and straightened out her outfit, grey pencil skirt and matching jacket; casual smart and effortlessly sexy. "I'll call and inform you as soon as Yoruichi-San show's up again." She headed for the door, leaving Shinji sitting on the couch.

"You think it was Aizen who took boobs?" He called out.

Lisa paused, her hand reaching for the door. "You don't?"

"Heh," Shinji raised his thumb to his mouth and chewed on the nail, smiling all the while. "I know he did."

/\/\/\

The weekend had ended on a much happier note than it had started. Yoruichi still couldn't quite believe how it had all worked out; she had somehow ended up with the exact opposite results that she had expected. And, despite the enormous amount of worries and doubts that should have preying upon her mind, she was happy. Ridiculously happy even, she didn't think she'd actually stopped smiling since she'd told Soi she loved her.

Her words had apparently had the same effect on Soi. The girl was all bright eyed and smiles, a welcome change from her usual cold demeanour. They had both been unable to keep their eyes, and their hands, off of each other. And not in the usual sexual way that had previously dominated their relationship, they had been holding hands nearly constantly, casually brushing against each other, anything to make sure there was the slightest physical contact between them.

Yoruichi felt a little bit giddy. And not even the multitude of panicked messages Kisuke had left on Yoruichi's machine had been able to dispel that feeling of sheer elation that was coursing through Yoruichi's veins. Admittedly, Yoruichi probably should have felt a little bad that she had caused her friend to worry so much about her, but really, when she was this happy it just seemed to amuse her.

As tempting as it had been to leave Kisuke to stew in his own fears, Yoruichi had decided that it would probably be best to alleviate his qualms. And so almost immediately after they had arrived back at their apartment, both Yoruichi and Soi had been forced to set off for Kisuke's.

Pulling up outside Kuukaku and Kisuke's house, Yoruichi felt the first pangs of something disconcertingly close to apprehension strike her. She could clearly see Ganju working on his bike in the driveway, Kuukaku's truck was nowhere to be seen and Yoruichi felt a mixture of hope and disappointment bloom in her. She was unsure how Kuukaku would react to her presence, or even how she herself would react to seeing her friend for the first time since they fell out. Despite her relief, she felt disappointment that she wouldn't get the chance to sort out their situation.

"You okay?" Soi asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Yoruichi nodded and swallowed. "Let's get this over with. I'm a little interested to see what's got Kisuke's panties in a bunch."

They both stepped out of the car, Soi's hand immediately finding Yoruichi's as they walked up the driveway. Ganju raised his head from his bike, wiping his hands on a greasy rag.

"'Sup," He greeted with a nod.

"Hey Ganju," Yoruichi returned the greeting. Soi stayed silent next to her, no doubt scowling. "Is Kisuke in?"

"Yeah," He nodded, tossing the rag to the side. There was slightest twist of distaste to his features when Yoruichi mentioned Kisuke's name. She wasn't surprised, neither Ganju nor Kaien had been overly fond of Kisuke. "Last I looked him and sis was babbling about something or other."

Yoruichi froze. "Kuukaku's here? I figured she was out since her truck isn't here."

"It's in the garage for repairs," Ganju explained. "It's makin' weird noises or somethin' like that."

_Shit,_ Yoruichi wasn't at all prepared to face Kuukaku yet. She chewed on her lip and debated heading back to her car and getting out of here. Soi squeezed her hand.

"Come on, the sooner we get this over with the sooner we can leave," She pulled Yoruichi towards the house. "I'm sure I've seen a shovel around here somewhere."

That raised a smile from Yoruichi, even if she wasn't entirely sure if Soi was joking or not. Inside they found the kitchen to be empty and so made their way onto the living room where they found Kisuke face down on what was left of the couch.

"What happened to your couch?" Yoruichi asked. It looked as though someone had decided to cut it in two and given up half way.

Kisuke lifted himself up and peered over at Yoruichi and Soi, his hair falling into his eyes.

"I started to cut it in two," Kisuke explained, pushing himself up and then standing. "But there's a metal pole or something inside it and my hacksaw couldn't deal with it. Kuukaku's gone to get something with a bit more oomph!"

Yoruichi stared at him in confusion. Hadn't they just bought that couch after their old one was wrecked at the party?

"Why would you cut the couch in half?" Soi questioned.

"We just sort of had an urge," he shrugged and scratched at his stubbly chin. "The couch doesn't matter though." He jumped to his feet and dusted himself off.

"You left me an awful lot of messages," Yoruichi said. "I take it something has happened. It's rare that I hear you in such a panic."

"Panic?" Kisuke looked mildly offended by this. "I never panic, Yoruichi-San. I am a paragon of effortless calm."

"You sounded like you'd just given birth to a litter of kittens," Soi muttered.

Kisuke shrugged. "Well, when you both go wandering off into the wilderness without any notice, it does tend to cause the slightest hint of worry." He indicated to the couch. "Would you both like to take a seat?"

"I'll stand," Soi answered, eyeing the desecrated couch with distaste.

"I'll stand too," Yoruichi gripped Soi's hand tightly in her own. She recognised that she was being a little bit clingy, but she didn't want to lose the support Soi's presence was offering her. Kisuke was acting weird, weirder than he usually did, and it set her on edge.

He sighed and ruffled his hair. "You really might want to sit down for this Yoruichi-San. I don't think it'll affect you too much Soi-Chan, but I could be wrong."

"What's going on?" Yoruichi frowned at him. "Did something happen? Is Kuukaku all right?"

"She's fine," Kisuke replied. He gestured back towards the couch, and this time Yoruichi and Soi both sat down, huddled close together since only a small part of the ruined furniture was suitable for sitting on. Kisuke took a moment, his hand rubbing over his mouth before he started speaking. "You've both caused quite a panic disappearing like that. The Gotei 13 didn't have a clue where you'd gone."

"We went to visit my mother's grave," Yoruichi said. "It's the anniversary of her death, you know that."

"You didn't take your phone."

"I didn't want to be disturbed," Yoruichi reasoned. "It was kind of a private moment. And this isn't the first time I've left the city and not told you. You never freaked out those other times."

"Yeah well, those other times we didn't have a loony picking off members of the Gotei 13."

Yoruichi's eyes widened. "Has something else happened? Is someone hurt?"

"How about you just tell us what's going on?" Soi suggested testily. "Rather than dragging it out for dramatic effect."

Kisuke pouted slightly at Soi's tone. She'd clearly just bust his bubble. Yoruichi knew that he liked to play things up; even in serious situations he couldn't help but skirt around subject and cause an unnecessary amount of drama.

"Matsumoto has gone missing," He said quietly.

"What do you mean missing?" Yoruichi frowned. "She took off somewhere?" Or was there something more sinister going on?

"I don't know," Kisuke admitted, which surprised Yoruichi. Usually he knew everything that was going on around the city. "No one seems to be able to decide what happened to her. She left work on Friday night, and then by Saturday morning there was no sign of her.

"Isn't it at all possible that she got drunk and wandered off?" Soi asked. "Chances are she'll show up in a couple of days with a headache and a few anecdotes about her drunken misadventure."

It wasn't that farfetched an idea. Rangiku certainly had disappeared before, only to turn up a few days later looking slightly worse for wear and perplexed as to where she had actually been. But that had been years ago, and she had been with Gin at the time. Everyone had immediately realised that the pair had taken off on an impromptu drinking binge.

"No," Yoruichi shook her head. "Rangiku's flighty, and she can be careless, but she wouldn't take off when there's so much going on. She's not completely irresponsible or that irrational."

"She made it home, we're certain of that," Kisuke continued. "Hisagi walked her back to her apartment, and he is certain that she at least entered the building. After that we're a little uncertain of the details."

It wasn't really sinking in. Yoruichi rubbed her eyes with her free hand as she tried to digest what Kisuke was telling her."I assume that there's no sign that she was physically taken."

"Now there's the thing," Kisuke moved closer to them, his voice lowering to nearly a whisper. "There was no sign of a break in, and nothing was taken from her apartment, except for her of course. Yet, there was blood in her kitchen, and we did find a bloodied knife."

"So she was attacked?" Soi sounded slightly frustrated; no doubt by the way Kisuke was hamming it up and explaining everything in small details.

"And she also left a note."

"That makes it sound like she left by choice," Soi flung her hands up in the air. "Which is it? Are we looking for a corpse-"

Yoruichi winced at this.

"—or a drunken airhead who attempted to down her own body weight in alcohol?"

Yoruichi was also starting to realise that Soi didn't have the best impression of Rangiku. She raised her eyes to Kisuke, who looked taken aback. The corners of his mouth were down turned and his eyes wide, clearly he hadn't been expecting Soi to be so blunt.

"Instead of drip feeding us information, how about you explain the full story from the beginning," Soi said, somehow managing to make the suggestion sound more like a threat on his life.

"Uh, sure," Kisuke mumbled.

And he did explain everything, or at least what he was willing to share – Yoruichi knew Kisuke well enough to know that he wouldn't tell them the whole story, more from habit than from any malicious attempt to keep them out of the loop. Both Yoruichi and Soi listened in silence as he explained what the Gotei 13 had ascertained over the situation, and the more that Kisuke talked, the more that Yoruichi felt certain that something awful had happened to Rangiku.

"Do you know what the note said?" Yoruichi asked once Kisuke was finished talking.

"Vaguely," He sighed. "I wasn't able to get a copy of it, but from what I understand it didn't hint towards anything suspicious. She wants someone to feed her cat, mentioned that she was going for a walk, and that she wanted to have a cigarette. That's about it."

"So she did leave of her own accord," Soi said to no one in particular. She was looking past Kisuke, her eyes darting from side to side as though she was watching something play out. "If she wants someone to feed her cat then that implies she's not going to be back anytime soon."

"No," Yoruichi agreed with a heavy sigh. "Does the Gotei 13 have any ideas?"

"Plenty, but they're not willing to share with the likes of me," Kisuke pouted slightly at this.

"This is messed up. Rangiku wouldn't just take off and not tell us."

Yoruichi turned her head as she heard the door slide open. Kuukaku stepped in from the garden, a cigarette balanced on her lips. She closed the door behind her and leaned against the screen doors. Yoruichi swallowed and quickly looked away; she really wasn't prepared to deal with Kuukaku right now. Soi went suddenly tense beside her, and Yoruichi gripped her hand, a little worried that she might do something that they'd all regret later.

"Take it ya told 'em," Kuukaku guessed. She plucked the cigarette form her mouth and exhaled a thick stream of smoke. A sneer was tugging at her lips and her hard eyes were focussed on Yoruichi. "Ain't lookin' too good for boobs. My money's on her turnin' up in a ditch somewhere."

"Always the optimist," Kisuke smiled humourlessly. "But you're right. It's not looking good for Matsumoto."

"It's the note that makes me think she'd a goner," Kuukaku continued, sounding as though she didn't give a damn. "Time for one last cigarette? That's a sign off line, if ever I heard one."

"Wait, what?" Yoruichi's head snapped round and she stared at Kuukaku.

"Her note," Kuukaku said frowning slightly. "Didn't he tell you about it? She said 'if I'm lucky, there'll be time for one last cigarette.' Way I see it, the only people who get one last cigarette are those who're doomed as fuck."

Yoruichi rounded on Kisuke. "You didn't tell me that she wrote that! Shit!"

"I mentioned the cigarette," Kisuke mumbled.

"Should'a told 'em the full story," Kuukaku sneered. "Yoruichi loves to hear the cold, hard truth. Ain't that right?"

It sounded a lot like Kuukaku was enjoying herself. Yoruichi felt sick. Her hands went to the back of her head and she stared hard at the floor. Next to her she could feel Soi, tense and quivering ever so slightly.

"You had us all worried, "Kisuke continued in a quiet voice. "Disappearing like that. We weren't sure if something had happened to you as well."

Yoruichi placed her hands down on her knees and lifted her head. She knew better than to question Kisuke on why he decided to tell her this in such a roundabout way, it was just the way he did things. It probably hadn't even occurred to him how frustrating it was hearing half the story and in the complete wrong order, or how panic inducing it had been. Vaguely, Yoruichi was thankful that Kuukaku had shown up when she had. Her blunt approach, while entirely without sympathy, had cut out the bull shit.

"It was Aizen, wasn't it?"

"Probably. Him or Ichimaru at any rate," Kisuke looked away. "I'll look into it some more and keep you posted. Just don't expect her to be showing up anytime soon. Chances are that Kuukaku's right, and that they've killed her."

Soi's hand gripped Yoruichi's tight, causing the goddess to turn and look at her. Soi wasn't facing Yoruichi, but there was an intense and determined look glimmering in her silver eyes. Yoruichi squeezed her hand, hoping to calm her a little. She couldn't really tell if Soi was upset, or even if she had been affected by Matsumoto's disappearance at all, but she was sure that something was whirring through her head. And that Soi had a tendency to over think things.

"Is there anything else?" Yoruichi asked. She wasn't really taking in what Kisuke had told her, it was as though she was hearing about someone she barely knew at all rather than one of her friends. Strange, she could only reason that she was in shock.

"Nope, just that you two should be careful," Kisuke tipped his head back and exhaled. "I'll inform the Gotei 13 that you're fine and alive. That you're both alive, since they were worried about you too, Soi-Chan."

Soi scowled at him. "I doubt that."

Yoruichi smiled faintly at her words. "You'd be surprised," She stood up, pulling Soi with her. "If we're all done here then we're going."

"Hang on," Kuukaku piped up. She pushed herself up from the wall and chewed on her lip for a moment. "If yer have the time, could I have a word, Yoruichi?"

"Umm," Yoruichi felt Soi tense up again. "I guess. I'll just be a second, Soi. I don't think this'll take long."

Kuukaku slid open the screen doors and stepped outside. She glanced back over her shoulder at Yoruichi. Much to Yoruichi's surprise, she looked slightly nervous.

/\/\/\

Over the years that Yoruichi had known Kuukaku, she had never known the woman to be without cigarettes, and today was no different. Kuukaku fished in her cleavage of all places and produced a slightly battered looking packet. She lit up a wonky cigarette before offering the packet to Yoruichi.

"Uh, no thanks. Actually I've been thinking of quitting," Yoruichi said, with an apologetic smile. She felt strangely uncomfortable, completely on edge and a bit like she might need to bolt at any second. Kuukaku had never before made Yoruichi feel nervous, not once in the long years they had known each other. But then they had never fallen out before either.

"Really?" Kuukaku looked slightly sceptical.

"Well, you know, it's not really that great for my health. Plus Soi doesn't like it..."

"She got you whipped or sumthin'?" Kuukaku cocked her head to the side, still shooting Yoruichi a quizzical look. "Never bothered you before that she didn't like you smokin'."

Yoruichi shrugged. "Things change."

Kuukaku glanced down at the proffered packet. "Look Shihouin, yer gonna take a dammed cigarette or I'm gonna force ya to eat the packet"

Yoruichi snatched a cigarette from the packet and hastily lit it up with the light Kuukaku tossed her way. She handed the lighter back to her friend, recognising it as one she had bought her years ago.

"Things seem to be nice and cosy with you two," Kuukaku said, pinching her cigarette between her thumb and middle finger. She plucked the smouldering cylinder from between her lips and let rip an acrid cloud. It wasn't elegant and it wasn't subtle, but it was entirely Kuukaku.

For reasons that were somewhat lost on the Goddess, the sight made her smile. She eyed Kuukaku's hands; she could pick out the odd scar, blemishes left from her pyromania. There always seemed to be dirt beneath Kuukaku's blunt, jagged nails. It was as though she regularly used her hands for shovelling soil. Yet despite the burns, the dirt and the general abuse Kuukaku's' hands clearly suffered on a daily basis, Yoruichi had always liked them. There was something oddly comforting about them. Yoruichi had always found something oddly comforting about Kuukaku in general; she was like a steel girder that always offered support no matter the situation, unbendable and unbreakable.

"I'm guessin' you ain't told her you're a cheating skank."

Bulldozer, Yoruichi amended. Kuukaku was more like a bulldozer.

Wincing, Yoruichi glanced back over her shoulder. The screen door was securely shut and through it Yoruichi could see Kisuke annoying the hell out of Soi, who looked close to committing murder.

"No," Yoruichi said tersely, turning back from the screen though refusing to look at Kuukaku. "I haven't."

"Coward."

Yoruichi ground her teeth together.

"You told her what I said, didn't you?" Kuukaku voice was unusually soft and Yoruichi thought she could detect fear there, or perhaps regret, she wasn't entirely sure.

Yoruichi turned her head looking over at the other woman. "Yeah, I did."

"That'd explain why she's been glaring daggers at me," Kuukaku sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "What I said, I dunno, I was stressed or somethin'."

Yoruichi's eyes widened and she stared at Kuukaku. She looked, Yoruichi realised for the first time, tired, strained and absolutely miserable. The sight probably shouldn't have had the effect, but for some reason Yoruichi found herself smiling.

"I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it," Yoruichi cut in, her smile widening. She brought her cigarette to her mouth and took a happy drag from it.

"All I've been doin' is worryin' about it," Kuukaku insisted. "I shouldn't have said it."

"No, you shouldn't," Yoruichi agreed. She was grinning now she realised, a feeling of elation bubbling up within her. "But you're forgiven."

"Just like that, huh?"

"Just like that," Yoruichi nodded in agreement. She tilted her head to look at Kuukaku, who was rubbing at the back of her head with one hand with a bemused expression on her face.

"Stupid bitch," Kuukaku finally muttered shaking her head. She waved Yoruichi over to her, now looking slightly relieved. "C'mere!"

"You're not going to smack me one, are you?" Yoruichi questioned. She really wouldn't put it past Kuukaku to cheap shot her.

"No, I'm not! I'm tryin' to apologise, ya ungrateful bitch!" Kuukaku bellowed. "Now get over here and give me a hug. No groping me though."

Yoruichi couldn't help but laugh. The hug was brief, Kuukaku shoving Yoruichi away almost as soon as it had been initiated, but then Yoruichi hadn't expected any less. It only made her laugh all the more.

"I know better than to hug you for long periods of time," Kuukaku said. "Your hands start wandering, and then end up in all sorts of interesting places."

"You love it really," Yoruichi smirked at her, and was pleased when Kuukaku returned the smirk.

It really was that easy for them; there was no need for tears or tantrums, no need for an argument or any accusations. There had hardly been any need for an apology.

"We okay?" Kuukaku asked.

"Course we are," Yoruichi replied, a grin still plastered up her face.

"Thank fuck for that!" Kuukaku exclaimed. "Don't go ignoring my calls again. Ya had me really worried there."

"Sorry, I'll make sure to take every call from you."

Kuukaku chuckled. "Sure ya will," she dropped her cigarette to the ground, the end of it still smouldering. She stared at it for a moment, and then ground her bare heel into it making Yoruichi wince. "So the kid, I suppose you managed to grow a pair and tell her at least one of the things on yer to-do list."

"Yeah," Yoruichi smiled softly. "I managed at least that."

"Figured as much. You didn't really seem to be takin' on board what happened to boobs," Kuukaku tipped her head back and looked up at the sky. "It all seemed to be goin' through a happy filter or somethin' like that. It was a bit much to dump on you soon as you got back."

Yoruichi shrugged. "Guess so," She turned and looked back through the door. Kuukaku shoved her gently.

"Watch out for yerself, right?" She said, concerned. "Kaien might have been an accident, but boobs wasn't. And Kisuke might be doin' his whole secretive thing, but I've gathered enough to know that somethin' bad is brewin'. And if they're taking out folk from the Gotei, you're gonna be near the top of their list."

Yoruichi frowned. The whole thing with Rangiku hadn't completely sunk in yet, the feeling of shock was vague and slightly numbing. She knew it would fade though, knew that tomorrow or in a few days time it would hit her properly. Her eyes flittered up to Soi; she was yelling at Kisuke and Yoruichi could just about hear it through the screen door.

She smiled. Right now she was just glad to have Kuukaku back in her life and for everything to be okay between them. Her gaze lingered on Soi, and she felt her heart flutter in her chest. She didn't think it would ever cease to amaze her, the feeling of warmth and security Soi managed to evoke. It was as though her mere presence melted all her fears away.

A happy filter indeed.

"I'll be fine," Yoruichi assured Kuukaku, shooting her a confident smile. "I always land on my feet."

* * *

**I ended up cutting two scenes out of this chapter, one for length and the other because it just didn't seem to fit. Neither of them was terribly important so I guess it doesn't matter. Although Hitsugaya ended up on the cutting room floor, I'm now a little unsure of when he'll pop up next. Sucks to be him, especially after reading the latest manga chapter – HA!**

**Although we did lose out on a kinda cute YoruSoi scene, but oh well it happens. **

**I'm aware that I probably could have gone all out on ze angst for Kuukaku and Yoruichi, but I didn't really feel like they'd be the kind of people to argue, especially with each other. In my experience when you're that close friends' with someone, you just somehow manage to make up no matter what happens between you. Or perhaps I'm just a complete tool and forgive people far too easily.**

**I'm done babbling; thank you for reading and please leave a review on your way out ^^**


	27. Fortunes Fool

Fortunes Fool

It was the first truly nice day of the year. The sun was shining, there were no clouds in the sky and the breeze was not bitterly cold. Spring had finally decided to rear its head, and much to Soi's annoyance, apparently so had half of Tokyo.

She ground her teeth together as she surveyed her surroundings with a cold gaze. The park was jam-packed full of people, overly cheerful and loud people at that. Soi really couldn't stand crowds; she hated being forced to stand so close to a complete stranger, and hated it even more when said stranger felt the need to attempt to engage her in conversation, and if one of them even dared t touch her then she would either scream or pummel the fool into a pulp. The latter option seemed far more likely.

Still, it was her own fault that she was here in the first place. She could have spent the day holed up in the apartment with Yoruichi, in bed no less, but she had insisted that they take advantage of the good weather and get outside. More fool her, spending the entire day in bed was starting to seem like less of a waste and more like a little bit of heaven.

She was jostled by an over enthusiastic group of young boys scuttling past her. They managed to knock her into someone else, who instinctively knocked her back. She went completely rigid and managed to stay upright. The next fool who ran into her was going to get her foot in their face.

Breathe, deep calming breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. That was the idea; it didn't really seem to be doing much to calm her down though. Why were there so many screaming children? Where were the parents? Shouldn't they have reigned in the little monsters? Soi was very much of the opinion that children should be seen and not heard. Actually, she wasn't entirely sure that they even needed to be seen. Out of sight, out of mind seemed like the best possible solution, especially since that meant they would be out of her way.

Turning and fixing a rigid smile to her face, Soi walked over to where Yoruichi was standing talking to a group of young girls. Soi was determined to pretend that she was enjoying herself, this had been her idea after all and she wouldn't give Yoruichi the satisfaction of knowing that she had been right in wanting to stay in. For her part, Yoruichi seemed to be having a great time which irked Soi all the more. Everywhere they went someone stopped them to talk to Yoruichi, and Yoruichi was more than happy to chat back to these random people. Soi had to suppress the childish urge to chase these people away so that she could keep Yoruichi all to herself. It probably wasn't at all healthy that she wanted to be the sole focus of Yoruichi's attention, that she didn't want Yoruichi interacting with anyone other than her. Definitely childish and completely unhealthy, but then Yoruichi was hers.

She stopped and looked over to her girlfriend; still speaking to the group of girls no more than kids now that Soi looked at them properly. Yoruichi raised her head and looked over at Soi and flashed a smile that made Soi feel a little bit weak in the knees.

It was strange feeling knowing that she was wanted. That she was needed. That she was... loved.

The rigidity of Soi's smiled faded and her expression softened. She decided that coming out here wasn't such a bad idea after all. Yoruichi was enjoying herself and that was all that mattered. Besides, she had dragged Yoruichi out here with the best of intentions and it was gratifying to know that she had made the right decision. Soi didn't want Yoruichi wallowing in the apartment. She hadn't shown any outward signs of being adversely affected by Matsumoto's sudden disappearance, but Soi wasn't going to risk it. She figured that Yoruichi needed distractions; she had a tendency to over think things and she clearly didn't know how to handle grief. Soi was in no hurry to suffer through a repeat performance of how Yoruichi had reacted after Kaien's death.

Yoruichi waved the girls that were talking to them off and moved over to Soi, her smile still in place.

"Having fun?" She asked with a slightly teasing tone that suggested she knew that Soi was finding the day aggravating.

"It's not too bad," Soi answered. "I could have done without the kids, but it could be worse."

"Kids aren't that bad," Yoruichi said. "It's the parents that are the problem. No one seems to discipline their kids these days and they just run wild."

Soi frowned slightly at that. "Did your parents discipline you?"

"No," Yoruichi said with a grin. "And I might be the poster child for why you should discipline your kids. With a big stick."

"I think that's probably abuse."

"Straightens them out though," Yoruichi started walking. "Come on, I'm hungry. This was your idea so you're buying me lunch."

Soi rolled her eyes at that. "I don't have much money on me. Besides, you're the millionaire, buy your own lunch." Despite her protest, she followed after Yoruichi.

"That's not how it works," Yoruichi countered. "This is your day out, and you're treating me. I don't want much, just a snack will do. There's a stand over here somewhere selling something or other."

"Fine," Soi threw up her hands in mock defeat. She didn't actually mind all that much, even if it meant that she'd have to spend the last of her change. She wouldn't have any more spending money until the next time she was paid which was nearly a week away but she found that she didn't care.

It only took them a few minutes to find the stand, a cheap looking Ramen one that put Soi off touching anything from it never mind eating its products. It took several more minutes for Yoruichi to actually decide what she wanted but it took her considerably less time to eat the food.

"You might want to try chewing it next time," Soi commented as Yoruichi finished practically inhaling her lunch. "Maybe you'll actually be able to taste it then."

"Man that was good!" Yoruichi patted her stomach and grinned at Soi. "Thanks for that. You sure you don't want anything?"

"I'm not hungry," It was a lie; Soi just didn't have enough money on her to buy food for more than one. She also wasn't that big a fan of Ramen, especially when it came from a stand that looked as though it violated several health codes.

"And now I need a smoke," Yoruichi whipped out her cigarettes and lit one up.

"I thought you were going to quit."

"I am," Yoruichi gave her a sheepish smile. "Once I've finished this packet."

It was tempting to be annoyed with her, but it was far too nice a day. Instead Soi just shook her head and tried not to smile.

"Whatever," She said. "I'm just going to avoid your cancer cloud, okay?" She didn't wait for an answer and walked over to the small stone wall that ran along the side of the path. She could still see Yoruichi puffing away happily on her cigarette, now talking to some man walking his dog. Soi scowled at that. As soon as she left her side someone jumped in and tried to fill that void.

She suppressed the irrational flare of anger and jealousy, and managed to resist the urge to go over and physically remove the man and his stupid dog.

It was strange; ever since Yoruichi had told Soi that she loved her she had felt on edge. She was fairly sure it should have had the opposite effect. She should have been reassured, felt calmer and secure. And in a way she did. She had an urge to phone Shihouin Masaru and laugh at him in triumph or perhaps to go rub the fact in Urahara's stupid face. She hadn't and she wouldn't, since that would be just a little bit too childish.

Knowing that Yoruichi loved her was a little bit over whelming. She wasn't too sure what she should do now. She was scared. She was absolutely terrified. She felt lost and completely unprepared. She had resigned herself to the fact that Yoruichi would never love her; the woman always seemed too detached from her emotions to do something as foolish as fall in love.

Soi wondered if she felt guilty. What would Yoruichi think if she knew that Soi was working with her father? It was a betrayal, but a necessary one. She hadn't forgotten what had transpired on New Year, it was etched into her memory, a scar that ached whenever she thought back on it. She could still see that bruise along Yoruichi's throat, could still see that scared look in her eyes and she could still hear the restrained grief, anger and hurt that Yoruichi had exhibited as Soi had held her. Soi would never forget that, she had promised herself – she had _sworn_ – that she would find this Aaroniero Arruruerie and she would make him pay for what he had done.

She couldn't find security in knowing that Yoruichi loved her because it meant that she had more to protect. And Soi was adamant that she would do anything to keep Yoruichi safe.

Soi rubbed at her forehead. She felt slightly feverish and worked up as she ran through her head all that had transpired this year. Matsumoto's disappearance had only furthered her resolve, and Soi cursed the woman for being so careless and adding to her worries. She wasn't sure if she agreed with Kuukaku that the woman was dead. A little bit of her still thought that Matsumoto was probably holed up in a dingy bar somewhere. Of course the note she had left behind offered a different tale, and Kuukaku's melodramatic insistence that the last cigarette was a sure indication of Matsumoto's death wasn't helping. A line like that didn't mean that she was dead; it only meant she thought she was going to die. There was a big difference.

They were all going to be red in the face when Matsumoto turned up one day with one hell of a hangover, Soi decided. Kuukaku would probably be disappointed; she loved drama especially unnecessary melodrama.

Yoruichi was still talking to that man with the dog. Soi turned away and placed her hands on the wall, leaning forward. There were too many worries and thoughts in her head and it was starting to give her a headache. Closing her eyes she took several deep breaths. He phone vibrated in her pocket and she sighed in annoyance. It would be just her luck for it to be work or her mother.

She pressed the device to her ear. "Yeah?"

"It's a beautiful day, don't you think?"

Soi's blood ran cold.

"Clear sky, sun shining and the birds are singing away," The silky smooth voice continued. "It's almost like a scene from a movie. Very relaxing."

"What do you want?" Soi spun round, her eyes locked fearfully on Yoruichi. She really didn't want her to know that she was speaking to Masaru. Apparently when you thought of the devil he called you right up.

"I believe that you promised to keep in touch," He said. "Are you usually so lax? There have been several thing s that you should have spoken to me about."

"I didn't agree to spy on her," Soi hissed. She walked away from Yoruichi, keeping her head low as though that would somehow stop Yoruichi from noticing what she was doing.

"You did agree to keep me informed though," He pointed out. "I like to know that my daughter is well, it's only natural."

"She's fine," Soi bit off.

"Did you enjoy your trip to Shingu?"

Soi froze. How the hell did he know that they'd been to Shingu?

"Shall I take your silence to mean that you didn't?"

"It was fine," There was no use in pretending that she and Yoruichi hadn't been down to Shingu. But she didn't have to share with him what had transpired there. "Did you call me for anything in particular?"

"Straight to the point, _Soi," _She hated the way he emphasised her name. "That's what I find so appealing about you, there's no beating around the bush. I called to ask you for a favour."

"No," She said quickly. "Whatever it is I won't do it."

"Oh, I think you will," He sounded so certain. "After all it is in yours and Yoruichi's best interests. I would like you to speak with an associate of mine."

"No, absolutely not," Soi looked back over her shoulder, making sure that Yoruichi wasn't anywhere near her. She was still talking to the man and well out of ear shot.

"He has got hold of something that I think you will find quite interesting."

Soi paused. She should hang up, she knew that she should hang up, but curiosity was getting the better of her. No, she shook her head, give this man an inch and he would take a mile. Her curiosity would have to go unsatisfied.

Masaru continued speaking as though Soi was actually interested in what he had to say. "If you were to meet with him then you would gain firsthand knowledge pertaining to one-"

"I'm not interested," Soi said.

"—Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez."

"W-what?" Soi swallowed.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," He repeated. "I believe you know him. Yoruichi certainly does. If I am not mistaken, and I'm not, then he was one of those involved in the attack on the Thirteenth bar as well as the one who started the fights at Shiba's little festive bash."

"What information?" She demanded. She felt suddenly frantic; Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was linked to Aaroniero Arruruerie and she might be able to find out more about Arruruerie's whereabouts.

"You'll have to meet with my associate to find out."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

He laughed at that, softly like velvet. "It doesn't work like that, _Soi. _I'm not here to give you free information, this is not a charity and you are not a charity case. If you want the information then you must procure it yourself. I merely provide the opportunity."

She rubbed at her eyes as she thought this over. She felt very tired all of a sudden. She did want the information, no, she needed the information but she didn't want to do as Masaru bid her. She didn't want to risk becoming a tool of his.

_Too late for that, _Shethought cynically. "When do you want me to meet this associate of yours?" The question left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Tonight," He replied.

"And I'll find out about Aaroniero Arruruerie?"

"It's always a possibility."

"Fine," Her headache seemed to be getting worse.

"Excellent. I knew that you would see the sense in this."

She frowned. "How exactly am I doing _you_ a favour here?"

"Whatever you learn you will report back to me, I would have thought that _that_ would be obvious," He sounded vaguely amused. "I am far too old to be getting involved in these kinds of things. A young and capable woman like yourself is much more suited to the task."

A cold feeling of dread settled in Soi's stomach.

Masaru cleared his throat noisily. "I will contact you later tonight. Make sure you are free. Oh," His voice perked and he sounded suddenly cheerful. "And aren't you supposed to be watching Yoruichi?"

"Huh?" The phone line went dead. Soi stared down at the phone in her hand, confused by the abrupt ending to the conversation. She had thought that he'd take a moment to mock her some more. She was watching Yoruichi. What had he meant by that last comment?

Soi looked back over her shoulder only to find that her view was blocked by a passing group of teenagers. She scowled and spun round, barging past them and heading towards where she had last seen Yoruichi. She was probably talking to some stranger.

Only she wasn't there.

"Yoruichi?" Soi looked all around her, but there was no sign of the Goddess. "Yoruichi? Fuck!"

_Where the hell has she gone? _Soi darted up the path past numerous people, cursing them mentally as she did so. She still couldn't see Yoruichi. She was starting to feel panicked by the woman's sudden disappearance. Why hadn't she kept a closer eye on her? Crossing back over the path, Soi hopped up onto the low stone wall so that she could see over the crowds of people.

_There! _She sighed loudly in relief as she saw Yoruichi roughly forty paces ahead. She was on the phone, cigarette in hand and looking absolutely fine. Crisis over then, Soi let out a small nervous chuckle. She was surprised at how her heart was pounding in her chest. A few people were giving her strange looks, but she ignored them and started walking slowly across the wall and towards Yoruichi.

She reminded herself that she shouldn't let herself be distracted like that again. What if something had happened to Yoruichi? She'd never forgive herself.

She saw it out of the corner of her eyes first. A flash of blue, just for a second and then hidden behind the mass. She paused, remained still and scanned over the crowd. Had she been imagining it? Then she saw it again, a man with his back to her, taller than everyone here and with a shock of bright blue hair.

_Grimmjow?_

Her heart lurched up into her throat as she realised who it must be. He was heading straight towards Yoruichi.

'_... Aren't you supposed to be watching Yoruichi?'_

Had Masaru known that Grimmjow was here? It certainly sounded like he had.

Soi grit her teeth and ran up the wall determined to intercept him before he reached Yoruichi. He was closer than she was, but she was fast gaining on him. She wouldn't let him touch her.

He was there, his hand reaching out for Yoruichi's shoulder. Yoruichi turned just as Soi leapt down from the wall and between her and Grimmjow, seizing his wrist. Soi had time to see Yoruichi's eyes widen in surprise. Soi twisted round, pushing the extended arm up at an unnatural angle. It was quick; a simple pull and twist and she felt the bone creak under the pressure. A final sharp jerk snapped it.

He let out a high, and surprisingly girly, shriek and crumpled to the ground. A chorus of shocked gasps rippled throughout the surrounding people who had witnessed the attack. Soi ignored them and turned back to Grimmjow, she wasn't about to give him time to get back on his feet and defend himself. She prepared herself to kick his weak, skinny frame when she froze in the action and stared down at his prone form.

He was lying curled in the foetal position, clutching his twisted arm to himself and whimpering like a beaten dog.

Her breath caught in her throat as realisation hit her.

It wasn't Grimmjow.

/\/\/\

"What the hell were you thinking?" Yoruichi yelled.

Soi was sat down on the couch with Yoruichi towering above her. Her head was turned and there was a sullen expression to her face.

"You broke that guy's arm! In two different places!"

Soi still didn't answer. She kept staring resolutely off to the side, her bottom lip stuck out in a petulant manner.

"Gah!" Yoruichi threw up her arms in frustration. "Do you have any idea how much this is going to cost me? I'll have to cover his medical bills and pay him to keep quiet over the whole thing. What if he sues? That was assault, you do realise that don't you? That's the kind of thing people go to prison for. I'm going to have to give him enough money to convince him not to press charges. And I'm also going to have to pay off every bloody witness that was there! Say something!"

Soi remained silent, her look darkening to a glower of defiance. She was acting like a child and Yoruichi was finding it infuriating. Ever since they had returned to the apartment Soi had dug in her heels and was refusing to admit that she had done anything wrong, never mind something so blindingly stupid. Yoruichi didn't even know what had inspired the spontaneous act of violence. Soi had flat out refused to speak, choosing instead to remain in a sullen silence.

Yoruichi let out a long shaky breath and rubbed at her forehead with her thumb. Shouting and getting angry wasn't helping, it only seemed to encourage Soi to buckle down and refuse to speak.

"Soi," Yoruichi said in a much softer tone. "I just want to know why you did it." She reached out a hand towards Soi, intending to brush the girl's hair back from her face like she had done thousands of times before, but Soi flinched away from her.

Their eyes met for a brief second, and then Soi stood up and moved away from the couch. Her head was bowed and her shoulders were lowered; she looked like she was slumped in defeat.

"It'll be okay," Yoruichi reassured. "I don't mind paying the money. It's not like I can't afford it." She forced a smile at this. "Don't worry about it; I'll take care of everything."

"I'm not worried," Soi said, finally breaking her huffy silence.

_No,_ Yoruichi silently agreed. Something else was bothering her. Soi didn't even seem to feel guilty about the whole incident.

"Come here," Yoruichi waved Soi over to her.

Hesitantly, the girl turned round. She looked taut, her eyes were cold and her mouth was set in a hard determined line. Yoruichi found the look in Soi's eyes more worrying than the actual assault she had committed.

And then Soi sighed, her shoulders drooping even further all the tension leaving her body. Her features were downcast and all at once she looked absolutely miserable.

"I didn't-"

"I know," Yoruichi interrupted her. "It's alright. You don't need to worry about it."

_She looks so sad, _Yoruichi smiled softly and held her hand out towards Soi, suddenly determined to cheer her up. Emitting a small sigh, Soi slowly walked towards Yoruichi dragging her feet, she lifted her hand to take hold of Yoruichi's. Quickly, Yoruichi seized Soi's wrist and jerked her off balance. Her foot slid out and kicked Soi's out from underneath her. The girl made a surprised noise, not quite a squeak but dangerously close as she tipped forwards. Yoruichi grabbed her round the midsection, turned and flung herself backwards onto the couch bringing Soi with her. They landed in a heap, Soi face down across her knees.

"Wha- what are you doing?" She struggled, but Yoruichi managed to hold her down.

"Punishing you," Yoruichi told her cheerfully with a big grin. _Too easy and so much fun_, were Yoruichi thoughts as she lifted her hand into the air and then clapped it back down on Soi's ass. She had always found that the most unorthodox methods were the best for getting a reaction out of Soi.

"Ah!" Soi went rigid as a board, her hands grasping at Yoruichi's knees. She pushed herself up and looked back over her shoulder at Yoruichi, her face going rather red.

Yoruichi just grinned wickedly at her, her hand rising again to deliver the next blow.

"Yo-Yoruichi!" Soi shrieked as Yoruichi's hand connected with her rear once again. She squirmed in an attempt to escape, screaming and yelling all the while. Yoruichi couldn't help but cackle with maniacal glee as she continued with the 'punishment'.

"Stop!" Soi screeched, but this time Yoruichi caught the beginnings of a breathless laugh to Soi's feeble protests.

"Not a chance," Yoruichi said, continuing with spanking the girl's ass. She couldn't help but smile at the knowledge that she'd been successful in making Soi laugh and hopefully briefly forget about the incident at the park.

"...the hell?"

Both Yoruichi and Soi froze. Yoruichi turned her head; standing in the now open doorway were Kuukaku and Kisuke both looking mildly surprised to say the least.

"Oh my," Kisuke murmured his hand going to his mouth to hide the smile.

Soi began stuttering and making unintelligible noises, her face going the deepest shade of red that Yoruichi had ever seen. She scrambled to her feet and in less than a second had disappeared from the room, the bedroom door slamming behind her. Yoruichi looked over the back of the couch towards the closed door and then she looked over to her friends who were still standing in a semi-stunned silence.

"See!" Kuukaku bellowed breaking the silence. "This is exactly why we should'a knocked!"

Apparently Kuukaku and Kisuke did have a reason for calling round unannounced. Despite this, Yoruichi couldn't help but feel like they had purposefully timed it so that they could interrupt her and Soi's game.

"All been taken care of," Kisuke said in his usual jovial tone. "I got in touch with the Gotei 13 and they spoke to the man and offered him a lump sum and told him to keep quiet. Naturally the man accepted this money, since the alternative was that he vacate the hospital and go for a swim in the South China Sea."

"I hope that was a joke," Yoruichi muttered. She didn't particularly like the thought that the man had been intimidated and threatened into silence. But if it kept Soi safe then she supposed she could live with it. "What about all the witnesses?"

"Again, taken care," Kisuke was sat down on the couch, carefully rolling a cigarette between his long fingers. "They are all singing the same song, and all are agreed that they saw nothing."

"Good," Yoruichi sighed. "Thank you."

"Whoop-de-fuckin'-doo!" Kuukaku sneered, her cigarette balanced on her lip. "The Gotei threatens more plebs into stayin' silent. Their pretty good at the whole intimidation shit!"

Yoruichi's eyes flickered up to Kuukaku. "I don't care. Not this time, as long as Soi's safe that's all that matters."

Kuukaku turned her gaze towards Yoruichi. "Yeah? Did she say why she suddenly decided it would be a good idea to snap some guy's arm?"

"It doesn't matter," Yoruichi muttered.

"Hell it doesn't!"

"I'm sure Soi-Chan had her reasons," Kisuke said quietly. He placed his rolled cigarette to his lips and lit it with Kuukaku's lighter. "I thought it was interesting that the man in question was sporting a fairly familiar hair colour."

"Yeah," Yoruichi agreed. "I'm not going to push her on this, and I'd appreciate it if you guys didn't either. It was an accident as far as I'm concerned."

Kisuke nodded and Kuukaku grunted in agreement.

"Thank you," Yoruichi twiddled her fingers. She really wanted a cigarette, but she was supposed to be stopping and had already had several today. "It happened so fast. I think she did it before I even realised what she was going to do. And she did it so easily. Like it wasn't any effort at all."

"Well that's not surprising," Kisuke said. "She is proficient in several martial arts. When you think about it, she probably knows more ways to break your arm than you know how to pleasure a woman."

"Funny," Yoruichi replied without humour. "I don't mean it was easy for her in the physical sense. I mean, I know several ways to break an arm, but that doesn't mean that I would do it."

Yoruichi glanced back over her shoulder at the closed bedroom door. Soi had been in there a while and was showing no signs of emerging. It worried Yoruichi how easily Soi had committed such an act of violence. It didn't seem to have fazed the girl at all and she didn't appear to feel any remorse over the action.

"Thank you for taking care of all this, Kisuke," Yoruichi turned back to her two friends. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem," He tipped his hat to her.

"Fraid I'm going to kick you both out now though," She smiled at them. "I should probably check on Soi. I think she might actually have died from embarrassment."

"Well we certainly wouldn't want that," Kisuke got to his feet. "By the way Yoruichi-San, about all the stuff that's happening with the Gotei 13 and Aizen, how far do you want in on it all?"

Yoruichi looked at him in surprise. "You know fine well that I want to know everything that's going on."

"Thought as much," He chuckled softly. "I might have some interesting information for you. It can wait for now, but if you want then call round tomorrow and I'll share what I know."

Yoruichi nodded.

"Ya both idiots for wantin' to get involved with all that crap!" Kuukaku bellowed as she walked past. "It'll all end in tears."

Yoruichi waved them both off and waited a couple minutes after they had left before she moved to the bedroom. She opened the door and stepped inside. Soi was lying face down on the bed not moving. A small smile graced Yoruichi's face as she quietly made her way over to the bed.

"Hey," She nudged one of Soi's legs. "They've gone. You can stop hiding now."

Soi remained still and didn't reply.

"Are you in another huff?" Yoruichi climbed onto the bed, swinging her leg over Soi, straddling her. She watched her moment; Soi seemed perfectly content with attempting to smother herself in the fluffy pillow. Still smiling, Yoruichi placed her hands on Soi's hips and gently rolled her over onto her back.

"Aww, look at that face," Yoruichi smirked and sat back on Soi's hips. At her words Soi's perfectly huffy expression morphed into one of annoyance, her lip curling into a sneer. "You have to admit, that was pretty funny."

"No it wasn't," Soi retorted.

"I thought it was," Yoruichi grinned at her. "Come on, up until Kuukaku and Kisuke walked in you were loving it."

"No I wasn't!" The denial was practically growled and Yoruichi could actually hear Soi's teeth grinding.

Yoruichi laughed. She placed her hand to Soi's cheek, turning her head so that she was facing. Her thumb brushed across Soi's cheek and they remained a moment in silence.

"Yoruichi..."

"Hmm?"

Soi's eyes flickered to the side and she swallowed. "About today, I-"

"Don't worry about it," Yoruichi murmured.

Soi's eyes went wide for a moment and then lowered. Her brow was furrowed ever so slightly and she looked troubled and sad. Yoruichi shifted, repositioning herself so that she was lying on top of Soi, finding an odd satisfaction when Soi's legs parted slightly so that she could slip between them.

She kissed her softly, her fingers tracing along her jaw as she did.

"Everything will be fine. Promise," she breathed between kisses, abandoning Soi's lips so that she could relocate to her neck and follow the line of her pulse there.

"Right," Soi agreed in a hushed tone. "Everything will be fine."

Yoruichi smiled against her skin, lips still brushing the point of her pulse and feeling it beat against them.

"Exactly," She moved back up and recaptured Soi's lips in a heated kiss, pressing herself against her and letting her hands roam down Soi's body. She moaned when she felt Soi's hands gripping her hips, pulling her in tightly.

Everything would be fine; she would make sure of it.

* * *

**Random 'spanking' scene in there. Sometimes these ideas get lodged in my head and I have to write about them. And I do love to embarrass Soi, almost as much as I love to beat her up.**

**Thank you for reading and for all the reviews and faves so far.**

**Is it just me or was that a really abrupt ending?**


	28. Fortune Smiles

Fortune Smiles

She felt cheated. She had built up a mental image of what the meeting place would look like; seedy, dark and definitely dingy, probably a back alley, a bar or a deserted warehouse. It would be somewhere secluded where nefarious deeds would go unnoticed. So she had been a mixture of annoyed and disappointed when they had arrived at the meeting place - it was the opposite of what she had been expecting.

"What is _that _look for?" Masaru inquired, raising a brow in a gesture that reminded Soi of his daughter. He shrugged his coat from his shoulders and then carefully folded it over his arm.

"Nothing," She mumbled in reply. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and hunched her shoulders, keeping her head ducked down. They were stood in a closed café. Florescent lighting illuminated the small area reflecting off the brightly coloured walls. It all seemed too cheerful. Uncomfortable looking plastic chairs were neatly stacked on the tables, the floor was a psychedelic mess as though the owner had thought that the swirling mismatched colours, purple, green, red and too many others in a hazy mess, would make the place seem more cheerful and upbeat. The effect gave Soi a headache and she tried not to look at it.

"It's just," She said slowly. "This isn't where I thought we'd be meeting these... associates of yours."

"And where exactly did you have in mind, a gentlemen's club, a bar or somewhere far more decadent? Just what are you expecting to happen here?" He didn't smile, but his lips twitched as though he might.

"Tch," She turned her head away from him and folded her arms over her chest. This was where Yoruichi would tease her for being in a huff. Thankfully, Masaru had better sense than to try that and remained silent.

"We are meeting here because it is hidden by the public," Masaru explained.

"Hidden by the public?" Soi looked back over her shoulder at him.

He nodded. "If you want something to go unnoticed then put it in a large crowd of people."

"We're not in large crowd," They were on their own. Soi felt uncomfortable being on her own with him, something about him made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"We are in what is considered a public area. During the day, this particular café is quite popular. Hardly the place where you'd expect something illicit to happen," Masaru pointed at one of the upturned chairs. "Would you be so kind as to get me a chair? We are slightly early and might be in for a wait."

She was so very tempted to tell him to get it himself. She had a feeling that he was just trying to push her buttons, test her limitations, and see how far he could test her before she snapped. It was this reasoning that led her to swallow down an angry retort and do as he said. She dragged a chair from the table top and set it down almost gently. She couldn't help but notice that Masaru's hands were shaking.

"Ah, thank you," He settled himself down. "You have excellent manners. You should perhaps sit down yourself. As I said, we are early and might be in for a wait."

"How early?" She asked.

"Only about half an hour."

It took a supreme amount of effort on her behalf not to react with anger. She very slowly, took down a chair from the table and set it on the floor. Sitting down, she lifted her head to face Shihouin Masaru.

"Why are we half an hour early?" She was very proud of herself for managing to keep her voice neutral, pleasant even.

"Because I enjoy the pleasure of your company," He smiled at her. The smile did nothing to make him appear more human.

"I see," She said slowly inclining her head and clenching her jaw. "And I'm leaving."

She stood up, the chair scraping noisily across the floor behind her.

"So soon? How will you ever learn about Grimmjow?"

"I don't give a shit about him!" She spat.

"You should," Masaru smiled at her, the saggy skin on his face stretching. "After all, he is linked to Aaroniero Arruruerie, so through him you might be able to find the one you want. You can't expect the answers you want to just drop into your lap. You have to ask the right questions and even then you have to direct them at the right people."

"There are over twelve million people in Tokyo," He continued. "How exactly are you planning on finding one man?"

"I'll manage."

"You'll manage? You are quite the optimist," He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, laughing softly to himself. "Although I suppose that is too kind; stupidity is hardly an attractive trait, Shaolin."

_He's trying to rile me up, he's trying to get a reaction, _She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of goading her into anger. His returning to calling her by her actual name lessoned the barb, she hated the way he said 'Soi' the way he spoke it like an insult.

"You need my help; you know that you need my help with this. Why else would you have agreed to all this?"

Swallowing down her anger and possibly her pride, Soi made her way back to the table and sat back down. She kept her eyes downcast though, she didn't want to see him since she was certain that he would be smiling at her in smug self-satisfaction. She didn't trust herself to remain calm if he was smirking at her.

"That's better," He sounded like he was speaking to a scolded child. "You should learn to control your emotions."

"I can control my emotions," She said lifting her head so that she could direct a particularly vicious glare at him.

"No. You can't," He sighed here. "I am not your enemy Shaolin, despite what you may think. You and I want the same thing and it is in our best interests to help one another."

She snorted dismissively and turned her head. "Then tell me what we're doing here?"

"I told you, we're meeting an associate of mine who says that he has some information that we may be interested in."

"But why am I here?" She asked. "Surely you could do this on your own? Why did I need to be dragged out here?"

"Again, I told you, I am far too old for these shenanigans. Things like this are much better left to the young. Besides," He smiled, resting his hands on the table. "This gives me the perfect opportunity to get to know you better."

She gritted her teeth and bit back her own annoyance. She had no idea how to handle his sudden switches in character, his shift in personality. For a moment there he had actually sounded caring, his voice had been patient and the expression on his face concerned. And then he had smiled and shifted into something more teasing and it had set her on edge. She didn't like that she couldn't predict his actions or his words, she didn't like that she couldn't read him and she really didn't like that he reminded her so much of Yoruichi.

"It is only natural that I should want to know you better," He said still smiling in that condescending way. "Considering your relationship with Yoruichi-"

"Is this where you insult me? Where you try to make me feel ashamed because I'm gay?" She curled her lip in disgust. "You're a real piece of work, no wonder Yoruichi can't stand the sight of you."

"How was your birthday?" He said, smiling pleasantly.

"What?"

"It was your birthday last week, wasn't it? Did you do something nice?"

Her jaw dropped. She wasn't surprised that he had known that her birthday had passed more that he would suddenly bring it up. It wasn't any of his business what she had done on her birthday, and it had absolutely nothing to do with why they were here tonight.

She stuttered as she tried to formulate a reply. She couldn't think what to say though, and she just knew that she was blushing as memories of exactly what she and Yoruichi had done on her birthday flooded her mind.

"You blush rather prettily," He said confirming her thoughts and also managing to make her feel slightly perturbed. "Should I take that to mean that I don't want to know what you and Yoruichi did?" For a split second the smile slipped from his face and his look darkened.

She looked away, at this moment she couldn't stand the sight of the man, though there was a certain satisfaction in knowing that his invasive questions had only caused himself discomfort. Thankfully he remained silent and left her to her own confused thoughts. She really didn't want to be here. She had left Yoruichi back at the apartment with the vague excuse of meeting someone. She hadn't told her when she'd be back and what she was going to be doing. She had been surprised when Yoruichi hadn't raised any kind of objection or even asked any questions. She had simply smiled and told her to have fun. What would Yoruichi have said if she'd known just who Soi was meeting?

Looking back to Masaru, Soi noted the way his hands trembled even when they were resting on the table. It made her frown, she didn't really have any idea how old he was but she was fairly sure he shouldn't shake like that.

Something clattered loudly from the back room and Soi leapt to her feet, immediately alert.

"Relax," Masaru said. "That will just be my associate."

The noise coming from the back room intensified, she could hear muffled voices now and a door banging open and shut occasionally. This associate clearly didn't care if anyone knew he was here. And then it went quiet. Soi cocked her head to the side, remaining standing and tense, not wanting to be caught off guard.

The door behind the counter opened and a young woman walked in, closing it gently behind her. She seemed calm and perfectly composed, her dark hair neatly pulled back from her face. Large eyes locked onto Soi's, they widened slightly in surprise and then returned to their usual expression of compliance.

"It is good to see you, Fon-San," Kurotsuchi Nemu said in an almost convincing imitation of warmly.

"Uh, yeah," Soi said. She turned to Masaru with a questioning look in her eyes. Nemu really wasn't who she was expecting.

"My father will be with us shortly," Nemu informed them, her voice polite. "Would either of you like something to drink?"

"You're kidding me, right? Soi said, looking from Masaru to Nemu.

Apparently Nemu wasn't kidding. She set about calmly switching on the machines behind the counter and seemed fully intent on preparing drinks for them. This clearly wasn't as strange as Soi was thinking, since Masaru politely asked Nemu for a cup of tea and with a nod of her head she set about making it for him. It all seemed absurd to Soi. She didn't know what she was doing here, she didn't know what Nemu of all people was doing here, and she was starting to suspect that she really didn't want to know. Something was very wrong; she could feel it in the air. Her skin prickled and goose bumps had risen on her arms, and she shivered.

Shortly, Masaru was seated with a steaming cup of green tea in front of him. Nemu was still behind the counter apparently preparing more drinks. Soi stayed on her feet, waiting for whatever would happen next. If she strained, she could hear people talking in the back room. She guessed that it was two men, though one of them had a surprisingly high voice. It wasn't too difficult to guess that one of these men would be Nemu's father, Mayuri. It was rare to see the girl without her father. Usually she could be seen trailing behind him with her head bowed in respect. Soi had never seen Mayuri or Nemu for that matter, outside of the Twelfth bar and even then she had only spoken to them on very rare occasions. The last time she had seen them was on New Year's Eve, Nemu had served them personally ay her father's insistence. Mayuri himself had avoided their group like they had scurvy, Soi suspected that it had something to do with the presence of Urahara but she had never bothered in enquire.

Shortly, the door opened once more and Mayuri walked calmly in, brushing the large sleeve if his coat as he did so. Soi had to stop herself from recoiling in shock at his appearance. Perhaps it was because she had only seen him within the confines of the Twelfth bar, but she had always assumed that his appearance was a permanent thing. He looked normal, or as normal as Kurotsuchi Mayuri ever could. He was without his usual makeup, his face looking perfectly normal though perhaps a bit pale, his hair was messy and still a deep blue, greasy and limp on top of his head. It failed to hide the terrible scars where his ears used to be. Soi tried not to think about what might have happened there.

"Punctual, as always, Shihouin," Mayuri swept from behind the counter towards Masaru, his long white coat billowing behind him. "Nemu, where is my... ah!"

Nemu appeared at his side holding out a steaming mug of what smelt like a particularly strong cup of coffee. White foam oozed from the top of the mug and dripped from its side as Mayuri took the mug from Nemu and sipped at the contents. He promptly declared that it was merely adequate and Nemu bowed her head and apologised, promising to do better next time.

"You're looking well," Masaru said. He remained seated and sipped at his tea cordially. Soi noticed though that he didn't look at Mayuri when he spoke to him, his gaze shifted to the side so that he looked past him.

"You're not," Mayuri replied. "You're too pale. Judging by your eye line and lips, I'd say you're anaemic."

"I shall take that into account," He didn't show it, but Soi had the distinct impression that Masaru was faintly annoyed by Mayuri's quick diagnosis. He cleared his throat and then gestured to Soi. "As I promised, I brought you some help."

Mayuri turned his bug-eyed gaze to Soi and glanced over her. He turned back to Masaru, tapping one very long and expertly painted finger nail against the mug in his hand. "I believe," he said slowly, almost hissing out the words. "I requested that you being some muscle. I was expecting an ape from the Eleventh, perhaps the bald one or even his wife. I was not expecting you to bring a malnourished child."

"I am not malnourished!" Soi bristled.

"But you are a child," Mayuri said, his lips drawing back and revealing yellowing teeth with a sinister smile. He had apparently found her outburst slightly amusing. "No matter, you will suffice. We make do with the tools we are given."

He placed his mug down on the table. Turning, he beckoned Soi to follow him as he made his way back towards the counter and she guessed the door to the back room.

"No doubt you will actually prove more useful than one of those uncouth ruffians from Eleventh, less posturing. Also," He looked back over his shoulder. "From what I understand, you are quite adept at breaking arms."

Soi tensed but managed to keep quiet. How the hell had he known what had happened? She turned to Masaru, glaring at him but he seemed suddenly absorbed in his cup of tea.

"Quickly girl!" Mayuri's voice barked out. "We do not have all night."

Soi followed after him, taking her time just to prove that he didn't have the right to order her about. Nemu remained in the café, closing the door behind Soi after she had passed through. The room seemed to be a kitchen-cum-store room. At one side there were appliances that looked as though they had rarely used while all around were boxes piled haphazardly.

Mayuri was stood in the centre of the room, rubbing the pads of his thumb and middle finger together as he regarded her. Just behind him Soi could see another man who she did not know. He didn't seem to notice her, being too preoccupied with trying to light a bent cigarette. His dark hair was short but unkempt, and his eyes had a disinterested look to them as though nothing could faze him at all. What really stood out though was the three bumps that protruded from beneath the skin of his forehead. It looked as though he had surgically implanted conical studs there.

Soi shuddered at that and looked away. It was here that she noticed something completely out of place. There was a third person, dumped on the floor with their hands bound behind their back and what looked like a bag over their head.

"What's going on here?" Soi said her eyes locked on the captive.

"Hmm?" The man she didn't know looked up, apparently finally lighting his cigarette. "What do you mean?"

"Who the hell is that?" Soi demanded pointing at their captive. "And what the hell do you plan on doing to him?"

"Too many questions," Mayrui said turning round. "From what I have heard you are a fairly smart girl, I'm sure you can work out exactly what is going on here."

She stepped back.

"Akon," Mayuri turned to his associate. "Find our guest a seat."

"Sure," the man called Akon rummaged around for a moment among the boxes and then pulled out a folding chair which he set up in the centre of the room. He then picked the 'guest' from the floor and set him down on the seat.

Soi felt faintly sick with worry, she wanted to leave, to just turn around and walk out the door and never look back. But a morbid curiosity kept her rooted to the spot. She watched as Akon removed the ropes on the prisoner and then pulled the bag from his head, his hands clamping down firmly on his shoulders to stop him from escaping.

He didn't look to be very old, younger than her at any rate Soi reckoned. His eyes were wide with panic, bleary and red raw no doubt form crying. His head snapped from left to right as he took in his surroundings. His lips were drawn back and trembled slightly. But underneath all that there was defiance. She could see it in the firm way he held his shoulders, the way his hands were clenched on his thighs. This boy would fight as soon as he got the chance to.

The boy's eyes fell on hers and she felt a brief pang of sympathy or of panic, she wasn't too sure. His lips moved and he tried to speak, she noticed that his teeth were oddly shaped, as though they had been broken at some point.

"Now then," Mayuri said, stepping round so that he could address Soi. "This here is our guest, Di Roy Linker. He's has some information that he's just be _dying_ to share with us."

Silence greeted this statement, punctuated only with the rapid breaths of Di Roy. Soi kept her eyes locked on the boy, watching as his breathing gradually began to calm. His eyes darted about the room and he licked at his chapped lips. And then he laughed, quietly at first but it quickly escalated into something with more weight.

"You're not going to do anythin' to me," He stated, the quiver in his voice betraying his sudden confidence.

"Of course I'm not," Mayuri agreed. "She is though."

Di Roy shrugged his shoulders displacing Akon's hands, and he jutted his chain out casting an almost cocky look at Soi. "No she ain't. Even if she tried, there isn't anythin' she could do to me."

Mayuri sighed theatrically. "Must we really go through this vulgar display of pseudo-masculinity? I assure you, it is quite wasted on her."

Di Roy seemed to deflate slightly at his words. He turned his head and scrunched his face up in what Soi assumed was annoyance.

"Very well," Mayuri said. "Let's talk about one Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and also while we're here lets also talk about New Year."

Soi didn't say anything; she merely observed the whole exchange. It was fascinating really, Mayuri pretended to be bored and completely disinterested with the boy and yet Soi could see that he was deriving some sort of pleasure by goading Di Roy into answering his questions. He rubbed his thumb and middle finger together whenever Di Roy said or did something that he found amusing and let out little 'hees' of apparent happiness whenever the boy said something interesting. Akon still seemed bored, his small eyes drooping with what might have been tiredness but could have been anything. Soi was secretly suspecting that he was on some kind of narcotic.

Yet for all their posturing and their idle threats, neither Mayuri nor Akon could make this Di Roy say anything interesting about Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. She had learned odd scraps of information about him; where he used to live, which gym he goes to, all things that could be discovered without the need for intimidation.

She couldn't understand what she was doing here. She clearly wasn't needed. And she certainly didn't want to be here.

Finally, after what seemed like an unnecessary amount of time, Mayuri and Akon exchanged glances and decided to shut up. Soi was thankful; Mayuri's nasal tone was starting to grate on her nerves. All the way through the pointless questions, Di Roy's confidence seemed to be growing. All the nervousness she had felt earlier appeared to have melted away and been replaced with boyish arrogance.

Crossing his arms, Di Roy smirked and tossed his head back. "And that's all I know," the slight sheen of sweat that glazed his face was the only indication that he might be afraid. His eyes were still locked on Soi's, defiance burning in them. It was almost as if he was daring her to do something.

Mayuri rolled his eyes. "You have been quite useless to us. Perhaps it is time that moved onto the second stage of questioning."

Soi felt suddenly cold. She wanted to look away but couldn't. Di Roy made a small noise in his throat, something between a gasp and a gulp.

"You can't make me talk."

Soi closed her eyes and swallowed. _Idiot..._

"Now that was foolish on your behalf," Mayuri noted in a bored tone. "You have just admitted that you actually know something. You would have been better of sticking with the ignorance card. Now we will be forced to extract the information from you."

He made it sound as though he was trying to remove a physical object. Di Roy didn't appear to immediately register what Mayuri was saying, his eyes had widened but that was the only reaction he was displaying. Soi watched as he trembled just ever so slightly and then, swallowing audibly, Di Roy barely nodded his head. He exploded from the chair, elbowing Akon roughly out of his way as he darted towards the door.

Soi stood rigid to her spot, unsure as to what to do. Akon was yelling something and Mayuri had stepped aside with a bored sigh. Di Roy seemed oblivious to all this though, intent only on his escape, and seemingly planning on going through Soi to make it.

She had a choice. She could step aside and let him go. Somewhere in the back of her mind she acknowledged that in doing so she would probably be saving his life. It would be so easy to just step out of his way.

She stepped forward to meet him, her forearm colliding with his jaw. Not even giving him time to stagger from the blow, she kicked the inside of his knee and he crumpled to the floor.

She was breathing unnaturally hard though her nose.

Mayuri seemed to find the short violent exchange mildly amusing. He didn't laugh, but his grin widened and his eyes lit up. Di Roy lay on his side at Soi's feet clutching his jaw.

"Interesting. Very interesting," Mayuri made his way over to Soi, still smiling in that disturbing way of his. "And moderately impressive, though I must ask that you refrain from striking him in the jaw. If you break it, then he won't be able to talk. I recommend the fingers." He held up his left hand for her inspection, pointing to the ends of his bony digits. "Start with the phalanges and then move onto the metacarpals. Painful, perhaps even excruciating, but it leaves him capable of speech. Akon!"

And just like that Di Roy was dragged back to his chair, whimpering like a beaten dog.

_Hard, _Soi thought. _I need to be hard. Cold and unyielding. _

She moved from the door, forcing her feet to take agonisingly slow steps, stopping just short of the boy.

"And now," Mayuri said, all traces of humour abandoning him. "We get to the interesting bit."

/\/\/\

She decided that it would probably kill her. Clearly that was the intent behind it. Layers of rich dark chocolate piled with thick cream and then yet more chocolate poured into a glass and presented to her like a poisoned chalice. Two scoops of ice cream topped the glassed decadence, with chocolate dust and shavings littered across its creamy peaks. Two wafers and a single flake stood out from the ice cream like little victory flags. Just to make it all the more sickly, thick rivers of chocolate syrup trickled freely down the cream mountains and spilled from the glass, dripping steadily onto the table top.

Soi couldn't take her eyes off the thing.

"She should have put a cherry on top," Masaru remarked calmly.

Soi stood corrected from her earlier assumption as her eyes slowly travelled from the sundae and up to Masaru. His lips were moving and dully she realised that he was speaking to her, but she could only vaguely hear what he was saying. It was like he was speaking through a filter, his words droning on and on, and she couldn't distinguish between them. She surprised herself when she spoke back to him. She couldn't hear what she was saying though. She was an observer to a conversation between two strangers, listening through the door and only hearing the hum of their voices. It was a shame; she would have quite liked to know what they were saying to one another.

There was a sharp clatter of plates breaking and the sound of a door slamming so very far away. Soi turned her head towards the noise. Nemu was behind the counter with her head bowed and apologising. Her father stood before her saying something about a cleanup. Soi wondered what needed to be cleaned up. Probably the broken plate, she decided.

She looked back to the sundae. It was melting, chocolate was running down the side of the glass and pooling around the base.

Something was buzzing near her ear and she had an uncharacteristic urge to giggle. The buzzing became louder and more insistent. A shadow loomed over her and she decided that it was probably the source of the buzzing. Not a bee then, as she'd first suspected, but then she was the only bee in the room. That did make her giggle.

A soft hand cupped her face and turned her towards the shadow, only Nemu had replaced the shadow and Soi found herself staring directly at the woman's breasts hidden beneath a figure hugging black top. Soi had to admit, Nemu had exceedingly nice breasts and she was about to compliment her on them when Nemu suddenly decided to slap her. Hard. Very hard in fact. Hard enough to snap her head to the side.

That seemed fair; she had been staring after all. The second slap seemed distinctly unfair, especially since it knocked Soi out of her chair and left her lying flat on her back on the floor. Both sides of her face throbbed. Raising her head she was greeted with the horrifying visage of Mayuri's face up close and distressingly personal. He was standing over her, his feet planted on either side of her body as he gazed down on her in interest. He gripped her face with one hand, his fingers digging painfully into her cheeks as he turned her head one way and then the other.

"Irregular breathing, dilated pupils," Mayuri smiled, thin lips drawn back over yellow teeth. "It would appear that she is in shock. Nemu, come here and test to see if she is perspiring more than necessary."

His breath smelt and Soi tried to move back from him, but his grip on her face was too tight. With a pleased noise, Mayuri let her go and stepped aside. For a moment Soi felt confused. She placed her hands flat on the ground and started to push herself up, only to be halted by surprisingly strong hands gripping her arms and hauling her to her feet. The confusion doubled when said hands decided to work their way under her top. She cried out in alarm and pushed against her unseen assailant, stumbling into a chair and banging her knee off of the metal frame. The pain was jarring and she felt herself lurch back to lucidity becoming very aware of four sets of eyes watching her intently.

"I think that is enough, Nemu," Mayuri said, his voice suddenly clearer.

"Of course, Mayuri-Sama," Nemu's voice agreed from behind Soi.

"Are you sure? She looks very pale," Masaru's voice this time, silken soft and coming from somewhere to her left.

Soi gripped the back of the chair that she had fallen from previously, her head bent forward as she dragged in several deep, shaky breaths. She could taste bile in the back of her throat.

"I'm always pale," She said, shaking her head slowly. "And I'm fine."

She realised that the buzzing she had heard earlier must have been their voices, talking around her and then talking to her. She swallowed, recognised that she was trembling all over and then swallowed again.

"If you're going to be sick, then the bathroom's that way," Akon pointed to a door across the café. "I think we'd all be grateful if you didn't do it here."

"I said I'm fine," Her voice sounded steadier this time, laced with anger and closer to her usual tone. Except that she wasn't fine, she was as far removed from the state of being fine as she had ever been. She felt sick. Her breathing was still off, laboured and unsteady.

"Guess we're finished here," Akon mumbled.

"Yes, yes," Mayuri waved his hand dismissively. "It has been a ...disappointing evening."

"I wouldn't say that," Masaru murmured in reply. "Some information is better than no information."

"Please! The boy was useless, he knew nothing of any worth," Mayuri's head tilted to the side as he spoke. "Still, I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of time." His gaze lingered on Soi for a moment and then he turned to Nemu and spoke quietly to her.

Soi tried to ignore the exchange. She was still gripping the back of the chair and attempting to regulate her breathing. She felt oddly numb. When she lifted her head once more, Nemu and Akon had vacated the room and Mayuri was busy speaking to Masaru in a quiet voice. He noticed her watching them, his head lolling to the side as he regarded with unblinking eyes.

"What?" She demanded.

"I just wanted to offer my congratulations on a job adequately done," Mayuri offered. He swept across the small café; his thin hand gripping her shoulder tightly and his face once again far too close to her for comfort. "Welcome to the other side of the Gotei 13."

She couldn't breathe as she felt the lock clasp shut and she realised the enormity of her mistake. She was trapped. She had always known that there was another side to the Gotei 13, always known that occasionally they erred on the side of the law and she had always made the decision not to get involved. She had crossed the line and there was no way for her to escape.

She reversed right out of her state of shock and hurtled head long into an anxiety attack. Someone was weakly pushing at her shoulder, steering her out of the café and out into the cool night air. She staggered, her hand finding the wall and she leaned into it. Someone was with her but she ignored them as she ran her mistake through her mind. It wasn't a mistake though; she had done something far worse than make a simple mistake.

"This was... an insightful night," It was Masaru, speaking in his soft voice and smiling in a way that made her feel sick. "By the way, you have a bit of blood on your..." He gestured to his neck.

She slapped her hand against her own neck covering the spot of blood there. SHE could almost feel it against her skin, burning and throbbing and mocking her.

Masaru straightened out his jacket. A car pulled up behind him, the driver exiting the vehicle and hurrying to open the door for Masaru.

"I trust that you will be alright on your own," He stepped back and turned to the vehicle. "I will be in touch, _Soi._"

She flinched at his words and at the calm way he spoke as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn't just done something terrible.

* * *

**Umm... So this might be an odd chapter. I get that it might be slightly confusing, that was intentional and not just crappy writing on my behalf. Or perhaps I'm just making excuses.**

**As always, thank you for the reviews and support so far, you are all awesome. If you liked the chapter then leave a review and tell me about it. If you didn't like the chapter then still leave a review, only berate me instead.**


	29. Take My Good Fortune

Take My Good Fortune

_Was it worth it?_

The air felt a lot cooler from this high up, atop the buildings and several hundred feet up from the streets below. Soi wasn't sure if that was true, or if she was only imagining it because the wind was strong and she was running against it, but it was definitely throwing her rhythm off. She was searching for a release but couldn't find it. Her breaths were being dragged in, ragged, and her throat burned with each inhalation and subsequent exhalation. She had been running too hard and without any idea of where she was actually going.

Stupid and dangerous, usually when she set off she already had a route planned out, she never ran blind. She hadn't even bothered to check the weather before hand, she shouldn't have been running against such a strong wind, it would slow her down and shorten her jumps. But she had needed this, it was the only way she would be able to clear her mind of all the troubling thoughts that were preying on her.

She was really starting to slow down. Her muscles were beginning to feel heavy and unresponsive. Her feet thudded steadily against the rooftop beneath her. She was lucky that she had run this route not that long ago and could mostly remember it. There was a drop coming up, she figured that it'd be just over ten feet. She increased her pace.

Exercise in any form usually cleared her mind. It was her safety net, whenever things became too hectic or she just plain didn't want to think, she went running. Even a light jog was therapeutic, allowing her to channel negative energy into something more worthwhile. Parkour gave her something different; it calmed her but at the same time offered a high like no other. She cleared her mind, found something Zen like, and the thrill of it, the sheer rush of adrenaline as she made a jump or tumbled through the air was unparalleled by any other feeling. Nothing gave her the same buzz as this did.

Her foot slapped off the edge of the building and she leapt, short, controlled, and fell. As soon as she jumped she knew she was going to land wrong. She had misjudged the height of the wall and the wind was working against her. Sure enough, she landed heavily and her knees were jarred by the impact. She rolled in an attempt to minimise the damage. Usually in a single, fluid movement she would be back up on her feet and running again. Today she rolled and landed on her back, harder than she meant, skidding to a stop. She flung her arms across her face, shielding her eyes from the sky above.

There was no calm today. No rush, no exhilaration. She felt drained, panting with the exertion, and her right knee ached. The pain in her limbs didn't detract from the headache she had had since last night. She hadn't slept, afraid to close her eyes in case she dreamt of what had happened. Of what she had done.

_Was it worth it?_

Her breathing gradually slowed and she lowered her arms to look up at the sky. The clouds were grey, but she didn't think it would rain, though she wouldn't be completely surprised if it did. With the way her luck had been recently, she was probably lying in bird shit.

She didn't know what to do. She had half expected someone from the Gotei 13 to contact her, but so far no one had. Didn't they want to know why she had been involved? Shouldn't they have at least been keeping tabs on her? Surely she was a liability; she had witnessed and taken part in, something illegal that was linked to them.

Why had Masaru insisted that she be there? She couldn't remember if she had told him what she had learned from Di Roy. She wasn't even sure if that had been the real reason that Masaru had forced her to be there. She was starting to suspect that Masaru had just been fucking with her.

She couldn't remember it clearly, but then she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to remember it. She could see Di Roy's face still, with his broken teeth and the look of fear when he had realised what was going to happen to him.

_Was it worth it?_

Soi rolled backwards and to her feet, stumbling slightly when her knee protested. Slowly she crossed over to the edge of the building. She almost smiled when she recognised where she was. Across from her was a newly constructed building, a hotel if she remembered correctly, and separating the building she was on now and the hotel was a huge crane that stood nearly as tall as the building she was on. She remembered telling Yoruichi about it and how she was waiting for it to turn so that she would be able to run across it.

_Yoruichi..._

Was she really any closer to finding Aaroniero Arruruerie? Soi knew exactly why she had done what she did, but had it actually helped her in finding Arruruerie? She wasn't sure that it had, which begged the question...

_Was it worth it?_

It didn't take much effort to climb down onto the crane so that she could walk across the arm. The crane had finally turned and was now connecting the two buildings, she would be able to run across the arm and jump from the end of it. The wind was too strong though, and her muscles ached and were cold since she'd stopped and rested. It would be too dangerous to attempt today. That didn't mean she couldn't check it out though, get an idea in her mind of how difficult it would be.

It was simple enough to walk across; the latticed metal was thick enough so that she had space on either side of her feet as she progressed across it. It was generally a better idea not to look down, but she indulged herself this time since it was very rare for her to feel vertigo or any other negative effects from being so high up. Below she could make out cars, tiny brightly coloured boxes and could even see the people walking near them.

Something whispered against her back, the wind against her or –

"Shouldn't look down."

She jolted, tired to turn and her foot slipped. Her stomach lurched as she felt the ground give way beneath her and she was falling between the gaps in the crane. She cried out as her arms banged against the metal and she desperately tried to hold on to it. She was hanging by her fingers, a poor grip on the thankfully rough structure.

"Sheesh!" A voice said above her. "You should really be more aware of your surroundings."

She looked up to find that someone was standing above her and looking down. He made no move to help her, just stared down with an unimpressed expression on his face.

She gritted her teeth and tried to pull herself up, her legs kicking uselessly into the air. She grunted with the effort, her arms aching. It was useless, her grip on the metal was too poor and her fingers weren't strong enough to take the strain of hauling her entire body weight up.

He laughed. "You're going to fall."

She tried again, this time yelling with the effort she put into it. If she could only get a better grip then she'd easily be able to pull herself up.

"Want a hand?"

She looked up again. The youth had slipped between the metal lattices of the crane, and was holding his hand out towards her. She was loathed to accept help in any form, especially from the idiot who had caused her to fall in the first place, but she grasped his hand nonetheless. Beggars certainly couldn't be choosers, especially when they were ricking making an impact on the concrete below.

He pulled her up, just enough so that she could use her free arm to help push herself up the rest of the way. Shortly she sat across one beam, gripping another and dragging in much needed air.

"You're not very good at this," he observed.

"Fuck you," She spat out, only now raising her head to look at him properly. Not a boy after all, a man instead, but still young, probably the same age as her. Oddly, he was dressed all in white and somehow managed to look clean despite scrambling about on top of a crane. His hair was messy and uneven in length and a long braid was draped casually on his shoulder. Stupidly, he reminded her of Di Roy despite the fact that they shared no physical resemblance apart from their gender.

_Was it worth it?_

"Not a nice thing to say to the guy who just saved you," He stood up and hoisted himself between the gaps in the metal, sitting down above her. "Shouldn't you be thanking me?"

"You're the reason I fell in the first place," She had a slight urge to shove him off the crane, it would require very little effort on her behalf, she'd just need to tip him slightly and let gravity do the rest. She opted not to. It would probably be for the best that she didn't make murder a habit. Her heart rate seemed to have returned to an acceptably rate so she risked moving, slipping between the jibs and climbing atop the arm so that she could stand up. "What the hell are you doing up here anyway?"

"I could ask you the same question," He returned, smiling slightly as though she somehow amused him. "I work here, what's your excuse?"

"I like the view."

He threw his head back and laughed. "That's a good one," He climbed up so that he could stand opposite her. It startled her to realise that he wasn't that much taller than her. "I can't say it's much of a view though."

She couldn't care less. He had ruined what little pleasure she was deriving from being up here. She started walking back the way she had come, determined to leave.

"Oi!" He called after her. "Where's my thanks?"

"For what?" She stopped and turned to face him. "For nearly killing me? Yeah, thanks a fucking lot."

He scampered up to her, like a small cat and making it seem easy. He stopped just short of her, his face right up to hers but she refused to flinch back from him.

"And here I was being nice," He was smirking, but she could hear the edge to his voice, almost like he was trying to threaten her. "See, this is a construction yard and you are technically trespassing."

"Aren't you doing the same?"

"I told you, I work here. See that?" He pointed down and to the left.

Frowning, she risked a quick glance to where he was indicating. Far below them, she could see a billboard with a face on it and a company logo. "... Luisenbarn?"

"That's right. I work for him," He danced back from her, never once losing his footing. "And I am Ggio Vega."

He announced it like she should be impressed.

"I don't care," She turned again and walked away. It took slightly more effort to climb from the crane back onto the building. It didn't help that she knew that Ggio Vega was watching her and quite probably silently mocking her. She tried to push him to the back of her mind, he was unimportant and a minor irritant.

"So you're not going to try the jump?"

She spun round; Ggio Vega was standing a few feet from her looking slightly curious. She was about read y to promote him from minor irritant to major annoyance.

"Are you scared?"

"I'm not scared," Why was she answering him? She didn't need to be here, she needed to leave and to think about what she was planning on doing. She was wasting time.

"Really?" He grinned now. "Then give it a go."

Her eyes flickered past him. Stupidly, a small part of her was tempted. She'd been looking forward to trying the jump for a while now. And she really didn't like this guy insinuating that she was scared. She smirked back at him, ready to tell him to stand there and watch her fly when her phone vibrated inside her jacket pocket.

"Sorry," She said instead, reaching for her phone. "Out of time."

"Pity," He grinned at her and then turned on his heel, sprinting full pelt off the edge of the building.

She dashed after him, breaking hard at the edge and stopping to watch him practically skip across the crane, launching himself from the end. She could see him clearly, a white figure cutting through the air, his arms wind milling. He landed on the roof of the newly constructed hotel opposite, rolling expertly to his feet. He dusted off his shoulders and tossed his head back. She could hear him laughing.

Seeing him make the jump, and so easily too, had ruined it for her. She didn't want to do it anymore. She lifted her cell to her ear.

"Yeah?"

"Soi," Yoruichi greeted her voice sounding perky and bright.

Soi felt suddenly relieved, she hadn't realised that she was worried about who might be calling her. She felt a little overwhelmed at the comfort hearing Yoruichi's voice brought her.

"Hey," Smiling, she turned from the edge.

_Worth it._

/\/\/\

It didn't take long for Soi to make her way to the residential area that Kuukaku's house was located. Admittedly, she had been forced to take two buses to get there, but she had actually enjoyed the down time of just sitting and watching the world pass her by. She had actually managed to find some resemblance of peace while sitting on an extremely uncomfortable seat and watching people over laden with shopping struggle onto the bus. It was odd, amazing even, and it wasn't until she caught herself staring wistfully out of the dirty window that she realised that she was acting in a mildly pathetic manner.

She had done something awful, nothing and no one was going to excuse her actions, but that didn't mean she had to mope. And she really didn't want to be acting miserable in front of Kuukaku; it would only give the woman ammunition to use against her.

Kuukaku's monstrously oversized truck was out front. If Kuukaku had been a man then Soi would have suggested that she was compensating for something. Ignoring the truck, Soi wasn't too surprised to find Ganju lying flat on his back in what little space was left of the drive way. Whenever she called round he seemed to be planted outside here, almost as if Kuukaku couldn't stand to have him in the house. She was more surprised, and fairly annoyed, at the fact that he was only wearing too tight shorts.

He lifted his head and looked at her with his small eyes. "S'up," His head dropped back and bounced off of the ground. If it hurt though, he didn't show it.

"Is Yoruichi here?" Soi already knew that she was, but for some reason she felt like making conversation.

"Yeah," Ganju sighed. "She and sis kicked me out. I dunno what they're doin' though."

"Aren't you cold?" It wasn't exactly the warmest of days.

"No," Ganju replied, he scratched at his crotch with one hand and Soi had to suppress a shudder. Disgustingly, he then scratched at his face with the same hand. "Just go on in," He instructed. "Doors open."

"Thanks," Soi mumbled turning away from him. Once inside she kicked off her shoes and left them by the door. There was already a pile there and Soi recognised Yoruichi's favourite boots atop the heap. If Soi was to believe Yoruichi then they were as comfortable as a second layer of skin.

"Soi-Chan's here!"

"Urgh!" Soi slumped at the sound of the all too jovial tone. She was having a really bad day, and being forced to interact with Urahara was only going to make it worse. She turned to face him, finding it impossible to keep the annoyed expression from her face.

Urahara was standing across the kitchen dressed as though he had only just got out of bed. Thankfully he had a baggy t-shirt today to cover his pale, skinny frame, though she really wished that he was wearing pants instead of just his boxers, his hairy legs were something she really didn't want to see. His arms were held wide as though he expected Soi to go running into them for a hug. A half-eaten slice of toast was gripped in one hand and a mug in the other.

"It's the middle of the afternoon," she said. "Why aren't you dressed?"

He dropped his arms, sloshing the contents of the mug carelessly on the floor. "It's my day off," He informed her. "You're lucky I'm wearing anything."

She shuddered at the mental image, suddenly feeling very thankful that he was wearing at least some clothes.

He grinned at her in that goofy way he seemed to think was endearing, and then took a healthy bite from his toast. "So," He said with his mouth full. "What brings you here?"

"What do you think?"

He swallowed. "You missed me?"

For a brief moment, Soi entertained herself with the thought of beating him to death with his coffee mug. As if reading her thoughts, he brought the mug to his lips and noisily slurped back what was left in it. In bold print across the mug it read: World's Greatest Lover.

"Kuukaku buy you the mug?" She asked.

He smirked. "No. I bought it for myself."

Why did that not surprise her? Stupid, infuriating man, she'd never understand how Yoruichi could stand to spend so much time with him. Still, Soi was trying to be tolerant, so she left her murderous thoughts inside her head and suppressed the urge to physically harm the buffoon.

"I came to see Yoruichi," she said. "Is she still here?"

Urahara nodded. "Course she is," He pointed to the ceiling, and for some reason Soi actually looked up as though she expected to see Yoruichi up there. "She's helping Kuukaku to redecorate the place. I'm staying out of the way, when those two break out the paint it's best to be as far away from them as possible."

"Whatever," Soi made her way across the kitchen, avoiding making eye contact with Urahara lest she be dragged into further conversation with him. She'd made it to the door when Urahara spoke again.

"Did you have fun?"

"What?" She turned and glared at him.

"Last night. Did you have fun?"

Her glare turned into a shocked stare, as though he'd suddenly sprouted horns and started playing the fiddle. He seemed perfectly normal though, completely relaxed and smiling at her in an open and friendly manner. Was she thinking too much about it?

"Why would you ask me that?" She demanded her voice barely above a whisper.

"Because it's a perfectly legitimate question," He looked confused.

"... last night," She didn't know how to answer. "Sure. I had fun."

"Good to know!" He turned away from her and stuffed the last morsel of toast into his mouth. "Though, you have an odd definition of what's fun."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She felt panicked now. He knew something, he must have known something and he was trying to goad her into incriminating herself. That couldn't be right though, could it? If he did know something then had he told anyone?

"Nothing," He still had his back to her but she could hear the amusement in his voice, the faintly mocking tone. "It's just that Yoruichi said that you went out somewhere. I figured you'd decided to go do your thing. You know," He looked back over his shoulder at her and she swore she could see the faintest hint of a smile there. "Leaping off of buildings and such. She was worried and spent ages rambling about it. I just don't see what's so fun about it. Especially doing it in the dark. That's how you bruised your knuckles, right?"

She looked down to her right hand, the knuckles were faintly bruised and the skin over one was split.

"Uh, yeah," She replied quietly. "That's exactly what happened."

She backed away from him. Clearly she was becoming paranoid, taking his usual moronic teasing to have a deeper, more sinister, meaning. She was shaking and she gripped one hand in the other as she made her way to the stairs trying to force Urahara and the events of the previous night out of her mind.

She could smell paint, and as she made her way slowly up the stairs, Soi decided that Kuukaku became bored of things far too easily. The pictures that had decorated the walls last time she was here were missing. Instead there were brightly coloured hand prints in their place. They were clearly freshly done, she could see that they were still wet and their presence explained why she could smell paint. Two different pairs of hands had made the prints, one blue and the other orange, and it had clearly been female hands that had left stamps up the walls of the staircase.

Stopping, Soi examined the markings. She placed her hand against an orange print, her palm and fingers nearly matching the outline. The hand that had left the mark was only marginally larger than her own, but with slender and much more elegant fingers. Clearly it had been Yoruichi who had left the print.

Soi couldn't help but smile. The paint was still wet and as she removed her hand she had smudges of it on her palm and finger tips. She guessed that other pair of hands that were smudged up the wall belonged to Kuukaku; she had larger hands than both Soi and Yoruichi but her fingers looked oddly shorter in comparison.

She could hear them both, faintly; they were laughing and talking in excited voices though Soi couldn't make out what they were saying. She continued up the stairs and towards the room that the muffled sounds were coming from.

"... Shut up! It's not funny," Yoruichi's voice shouted. She sounded slightly breathless and perhaps a little angry.

Soi stopped and stared at the closed door.

"Yeah it is," Kuukaku replied, still laughing.

"No, it's not. I have no idea what I'm going to say."

Frowning, Soi rested her hand against the closed door. She quickly removed it when she remembered that she had paint on her hand. Sure enough, she had left an orange smudge against the lightly coloured wood.

"Shit," Soi hissed.

"The truth," Kuukaku suggested at the same time Soi swore.

"No shit," Yoruichi sounded slightly annoyed. She said something else but it was too quiet for Soi to make out.

"I say ya should be blunt."

"Blunt? It's not like ripping off a band aid."

Soi reached for the door again.

"Sure it is. Ya just say-" Kuukaku started.

Soi pushed against the door.

"—oh, by the way Soi, I fucked someone else," Yoruichi finished.

Soi froze. Her hand was still on the now open door and she stared into the room. Yoruichi had her back to her, and she could see Kuukaku standing further back in the room and now staring at Soi with wide eyes.

"Shit!"

Yoruichi spun round, her own eyes going wide and filled with panic and fear. "S-Soi?"

* * *

**Click ze review button to shout at me.**


	30. It's My Own Cheating Heart

It's my Own Cheating Heart That Makes me Cry

There was a weight to the silence that filled the room. It hung heavy in the air and kept all three occupants rooted to the spot. Not even the sound of their breathing punctured the oppressive stillness, it was as though all three had forgotten how to. Soi still stood in the open doorway; her head turned to the side and bowed ever so slightly, a curtain of hair obscuring her face. Her hand rested on the door, it had trailed a short distance and Yoruichi could see that it had left a faint brush of bright orange paint in its wake.

Yoruichi knew that Kuukaku still stood behind her. Neither moving nor speaking and caught in the same lock of tension that she and Soi were. She wished that she wasn't here. Her presence didn't provide any comfort and only made Yoruichi feel more awkward and scared. But Kuukaku couldn't leave since Soi was blocking the doorway. Even if she could leave, Yoruichi had a feeling that she wouldn't.

Yoruichi's eyes fell on Soi. She had watched a flurry of emotions spasm across the girls face; shock when she had fist heard Yoruichi's ill-timed confession, disbelief had followed and then anger before her expression had crumpled and she had turned away. Yoruichi was oddly grateful for that. She couldn't stand to see the pain reflected in those silver eyes. The knowledge that she was the cause for it made it worse.

Slowly, as though she was afraid she might distil the tension, Yoruichi took a step forward her hand rising towards Soi. Her mouth was dry and her throat tight, she wasn't sure if she would even be able to speak but she knew she had to say something. Someone needed to break this silence and she knew that it had to be her. She was scared though, speaking would mean acknowledging what she had done. And breaking the silence meant that she would have to break Soi.

"I-it's a joke, right?" Soi spoke before Yoruichi could, her voice quivering as she did so. She lifted her head and looked to Yoruichi, desperation and panic and pleading evident in her eyes. "Tell me it's a joke. Tell me it's just a misunderstanding and that I've got it all wrong. Is it true, Yoruichi? Did you sleep with someone else?"

Her eyes were screaming at Yoruichi. The way she was stood was reminiscent of when they were standing in the rain; bent over and her shoulders hunched, and looking more like she was waiting to be physically struck with a fatal blow. It scared Yoruichi that she had already reduced Soi to this, that she already looked bunched up and broken and not at all how she usually did.

And with the fear came the awful realisation that Soi wanted her to lie. She wanted her to say that she had heard wrong and that there had been no infidelity, and that this was all one bad joke. She was offering Yoruichi a way out, where they could pretend that this hadn't happened. And against her better judgement, Yoruichi was tempted to go along with the charade. It would be so easy to just lie, to deny her guilt and to keep Soi. It was what Soi wanted after all.

Except that the lie would always be between them. It hurt, but she knew that she couldn't lie, not this time. So she condemned herself with a single whispered word.

"...yes."

The effect was immediate; Soi's eyes widened and Yoruichi could already see the pain there, her mouth opened and then clamped shut in a grimace. She turned from Yoruichi, her eyes down, and slowly walked out of the room.

Yoruichi doubled over and exhaled noisily as she let out the breath she had been holding since Soi had first walked in the room. It hurt. She clutched herself tightly, breathing heavily, her eyes stinging.

"The fuck you doin'!" Kuukaku bellowed, shoving Yoruichi and causing her to stumble. "Don't just stand there, go after her!"

_Go after her? _The thought hadn't even occurred to Yoruichi. She wasn't sure she had the right. She looked back over her shoulder at Kuukaku.

"Go on," Kuukaku gave her another push, there was urgency in her voice and eyes, but she spoke softly. "Don't be such a coward, ya need to sort this."

"R-right," Yoruichi straightened up, moving quickly to the door. She paused, her hand trailing across the smudged paint. "Thanks Kuukaku."

"She'll get away if you don't hurry."

Not bothering to reply, Yoruichi hurried from the room and to the stairs, taking them three at a time as she ran down. She came to a skidding stop and turned sharply into the kitchen, nearly knocking Kisuke over in her haste.

"Whoa there!" He danced back out of her way, a surprised look etched on his face. "What's going on? Soi-Chan just came tearing through here like the place was on fire. The place isn't on fire, is it?"

"Shut up, Kisuke," She shoved him out of her path and ran to the door, not even bothering to stop to put her boots on.

The driveway was hard and cold beneath her feet, but she ignored the minor discomfort as she dashed down it and to the road. She stopped. Looked left and then right, before looking left again. Her hands fisted into her hair as she realised that she didn't have a clue which way Soi had gone.

"... Shit!"

She didn't know what to do, the street was devoid of people and there was no way for her to know where Soi was.

"Why's everyone rushin' around?" A gruff and confused voice asked from behind.

Turning, Yoruichi found Ganju standing behind her scratching at his head with a large hand. She rounded on him. "Did you see which way Soi went?" She demanded.

"Huh?" Ganju stepped back from her, looking alarmed. "Why are you shoutin' at me? I didn't do nothin'!"

"Ganju!"

He pointed left down the street. "That way, I think. Uh..." His face scrunched up as he thought. "She went down the alley by those houses there. It leads to the main road and then- wha'? Where you goin'?"

"Thanks Ganju!" Yoruichi yelled back to him as she hurried in the direction he had pointed, hoping that he had remembered correctly. She needed to find Soi. She needed to explain herself properly, she refused to let Soi just run away, when there might be a chance, no matter how slim, that Yoruichi could salvage something from this.

She cut between the two houses Ganju had pointed out and followed the narrow ally until it opened out onto the main road. She paused briefly, her feet stinging from running on the hard ground. She still couldn't see Soi, but she had a feeling that she was heading in the right direction.

She crossed over the road, silently thankful that the traffic wasn't bad. On the other side she stood atop the steep bank that overlooked the river. And there standing alone on the adjacent path with her back to Yoruichi was Soi.

Something like relief washed over Yoruichi, it was punctuated by a constrictive weight in her chest that made it suddenly difficult to breathe. Slowly, she made her way down the grassy bank and stepped onto the path, leaving footprints as she walked towards Soi. She stopped short of the girl, wanting to give her some space, terrified she might bolt at any second.

"I just needed to get some air," Her voice was quiet and barely audible, quivering slightly.

"That's... understandable," Yoruichi replied.

Her words were greeted with silence. Soi still had her back to her. She appeared to be gazing out to the river. Her arms hung loose at her sides, her head lowered forward slightly and her shoulders slumped. Yoruichi knew that it was her responsibility to break the silence, but she didn't know what she should day. Should she apologise straight away, try to reassure Soi, declare her love?

Once again, Soi spoke before she had a chance to. "How many times?"

Yoruichi flinched. It was a valid question, given her history, but it still hurt to hear it.

"Just the once," It was hard to speak, her throat felt tight and her mouth dry.

Soi nodded once, sharply. "Why?"

Yoruichi really didn't want to answer that. She knew why she had done it. She rarely did things without reason. But her reason for this had been so frivolous, so pointless and so completely terrible that she didn't want to share it with Soi. And she knew that she had to answer truthfully

"Because I could."

Soi's head snapped round to face Yoruichi, her eyes wide and blazing without shocked anger. Her lip curled, baring her clenched teeth. Then she spun on her heel and marched away.

"Wait! Soi, wait!" Yoruichi called after her.

Soi ignored her and continued walking away. Yoruichi hurried after her, careful not to completely close the distance. She understood the need for space, that Soi probably didn't want Yoruichi to suddenly grab her and pull her back.

"Soi, please!" Yoruichi stopped as she continued calling the girl's name. She could feel panic starting to grip at her, fear that Soi was really going to just walk away and not even hear her out. This was it, Yoruichi slowly realised. Soi wasn't even going to give her a chance to apologise.

"_Shaolin!_"

Soi stopped. Yoruichi was bent forward; her head down, her whole body was shaking. Her voice was high and desperate, she had screamed Soi's name in a last bid to stop her from leaving. Looking up, she found that Soi was still standing there. She rocked on her feet but made no move to leave.

"I can explain," Yoruichi said.

"You just did," Soi's voice was harsh.

"Please Soi," She was begging, and she found that she didn't care.

A tremor rippled through Soi's body and she whirled around, the blazing anger still burning in her eyes. "Fine! Why did you do it?"

It took Yoruichi a moment to find her voice, and when she did it was cracked and broken. "Be-because I wanted to prove that you didn't have a hold on me. I wanted to prove to myself that you meant nothing to me."

"Well congratulations," Soi Spat, making Yoruichi flinch again. "When?"

Swallowing the lump that was lodged in her throat, Yoruichi replied: "Just after we got back together."

Soi's eyes widened and Yoruichi saw the anger there melt, replaced by pain and shock. Soi took a step back; she looked suddenly lost and defeated. Her lip trembled. "Who?"

"Does it matter?" Yoruichi desperately wanted to close the meagre distance between them, to hold her and soothe her. She knew though that she wouldn't be welcome, so she kept her distance.

"Yoruichi..." It was a warning, spoken low and nearly growled at the older woman.

Yoruichi shook her head. "I'm sorry Soi. I'm not going to tell you who she was."

"Because she's someone I know," Soi guessed. Her mouth twisted and she turned her face form Yoruichi. There was a look to her features that made Yoruichi think that Soi had probably correctly worked out who she had cheated on her with. "I'm such a fucking idiot."

"I'm sorry."

"Are you? I'm having a hard time believing you."

"I'm sorry," Yoruichi repeated. "I made a mistake."

"You make a lot of those," Soi folded her arms crossly. She was obviously using her anger as a shield; Yoruichi could tell that she was trying hard not to cry. Her lips were pressed tight together into a thin line and her eyes were filled with unshed tears and wouldn't meet Yoruichi's.

"I didn't mean for you to find out like this," Yoruichi said, trying to ignore the cutting remarks Soi kept making. They hurt, but she could handle them. She figured that they were least that she deserved for what she had done.

Soi rolled her eyes. "You didn't plan on telling me at all."

"I did, I just didn't know how. I didn't want to hurt you," It seemed like such a feeble excuse now. There was no getting round hurting Soi. She had just been too much of a coward to do the right thing. She had been far too scared to face the consequences of her own actions.

Her eyes felt like they were burning and Yoruichi blinked back the tears, refusing to cry even over this. There was a pain, lodged somewhere deep in her chest. It was dull and it ached terribly. She wondered if this was how Soi was feeling now, or would her pain be far worse?

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Soi I-" Yoruichi broke off, taking a moment to try and compose herself. "I can't take back what I did. But I am sorry. I love you."

A bitter laugh emanated from Soi. "You love me?" She was crying now, tears running freely down her cheeks. The anger was still there though, mixed with her sadness and twisting her features. "Don't kid yourself, Yoruichi. You're not capable of love."

It was a bit like being punched in the chest. She actually staggered as Soi's words hit her full force, the wind leaving her, followed by a sharp pain. She really hadn't been expecting Soi to say something so... cruel.

Soi looked torn. She wheeled form Yoruichi, and buried her face in her hands. "I didn't mean that," Her voice was shaking. "I just, you, I mean..."

Yoruichi moved without thinking, finally closing the distance, and reaching out for Soi. "It's okay," Her fingers brushed against Soi's arm. "It's alright, I--"

"Don't touch me!" Soi yelled, slapping Yoruichi's hand from her. She backed up, increasing the distance. "Don't, just don't!"

Ignoring her, Yoruichi moved back in. Her hands reaching for Soi, fully intent on pulling the girl close to her. "Listen I--"

"No, you listen!" Soi shoved her back, hard. There was a wildness to her eyes that scared Yoruichi, a fury unlike anything she had ever seen there, the silver of her eyes burning. "It's not fair! It's not fair that you just expect me to deal with this. You're so selfish! All you do is take and take and take!" She pushed Yoruichi back; once, twice, her hands repeatedly colliding against the older woman. "I'm so stupid for believing that you'd changed! That you actually cared!"

"I do care..."

"Shut up!"Soi screamed. "Do you have any idea of what I gave up for you? What I did for you?"

Confusion flooded Yoruichi. _...gave up? _She didn't have a clue what Soi was talking about. She'd never known that she had been forced to give anything up for her. She tried to reach for Soi again, but was stopped by Soi pushing her back once more. This time though, Yoruichi grabbed hold of her wrist.

"Let go!" Soi pulled back, but Yoruichi held on tightly.

"No," Yoruichi shook her head. She yanked the girl towards her, her free arm circling round her waist and cinching her in tight. "I'm sorry." Something broke. Soi felt so tense in her arms. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

Bit by bit she felt the tension leave Soi. Her hand clutched at Yoruichi's top, her face was pressed into her chest. She was shaking, shuddering and crying. Yoruichi just held her tighter, both arms around her small frame. She was crying herself, she had only just noticed. She didn't know when she had started, but hers cheeks were wet with freshly fallen tears. She buried her face into Soi's shoulder, muffling what felt like the beginnings of a sob there.

Soi had gone still. She had stopped crying, and slowly but forcefully, she disentangled herself from Yoruichi's grip. Stepping back, she wiped her eyes with the back of her arm. Yoruichi wiped at her own eyes with her hand.

Soi was breathing heavily. She moved further back from Yoruichi, grim determination set in her face.

"... Soi..." Yoruichi looked to her.

Soi shook her head. "No," She sounded different, all the anger had left her voice and something so much colder had been left in its place. "I don't want to hear it. I'm done with this."

It took a moment for it to sink in, for Yoruichi to fully understand what Soi was saying. Once it did though, there was a fear like Yoruichi had never known. It was over. Soi was going to leave her.

"No, no," Her voice was broken, nearly whimpering as she spoke. "No, Soi, please I don't I--" She broke off, her hand going to her mouth as she watched Soi start to walk away. "Please!"

She ran after her. She seized Soi's elbow in one hand and turned her, pulling her in close. She had to make her understand; make her see that it was a mistake, a stupid pointless mistake that she would spend the rest of her life apologising for. She didn't care that she sounded weak or that she was begging. She just needed Soi to listen to her, to make her see that they were better than this and that they could work through it. She had to stop Soi from leaving her.

"Get off me!" Soi bellowed, trying to push Yoruichi away from her.

"I need to explain."

"You've already explained!" Soi wrenched her arm from Yoruichi's grip. "Get it through your thick head!" She shoved Yoruichi back, knocking her to the ground. "We're done."

Yoruichi landed hard, she winced with the impact but ignored the brief pain. "So that's it? After everything we went through, you're just going to walk away?" She raised her head, feeling the sting of fresh tears in her eyes. Soi was standing over her; her eyes cold and distant, red raw from crying but filled with something so much like hate that Yoruichi couldn't stand to look at them.

"Yeah, that's it," Soi said, something so much more terrible than anger lacing her words. "I don't want to see you again. I'm going to walk away, and I am not going to look back. We are finished."

Yoruichi was shaking her head. She refused to believe that it was over, that it was so easy for Soi to just walk away and leave her. "Please Soi; I know that we can work this out. I know it will be hard, but we can--"

"I don't care. I don't care enough to want to work this out, and I certainly don't care about you."

It was like Yoruichi was looking at a completely different person. She looked like Soi, but her presence was nothing like what Yoruichi was used to. She was cold and distant, and she made Yoruichi feel faintly scared as she looked up into her flinty eyes. This wasn't the girl who blushed when she was teased, she wasn't the girl who brought comfort when needed, she was gone and someone very different was here in her place.

"You care," Yoruichi said, trying to reassure herself more than anything.

"No, I don't," There was a note of finality to Soi's voice.

"You do! I know you Soi, and I know that you're hurting and if you give me the chance I will do whatever it takes to try and make this right again."

Soi's lip curled slightly as she contemplated Yoruichi. She cocked her head to the side, a slow almost sadistic smile creeping up her face. "Do you want to know just how little I care about you?"

Yoruichi gasped as she felt Soi close in on her. She hadn't even noticed that she'd moved; only becoming aware of it when she felt Soi's hand on her shoulder, her hair brushing against her cheek as she leaned in close and the whisper of warm breath against her ear.

"... I've been working for your father."

She couldn't breathe. A force was crushing her chest. An ice cold hand was closing around her heart, squeezing, squeezing and squeezing. She couldn't breathe. A noise rattled out her throat, a cry, a muffled sob, gasp, she didn't know. She couldn't _breathe_!

It couldn't be true, it just couldn't. It had happened in the past, with other people, people who didn't matter. Not with Soi though. Because Soi wasn't like that; she didn't lie, she didn't cheat, and she wasn't capable of doing something like this. It just wasn't in her nature to do it. Yoruichi could trust her. She loved Soi, she knew her, she could trust her and the girl would never betray her.

It just couldn't be true, because if it was then everything that was between them was a lie.

The shadow of Soi left her, silently, abandoning her on the path. Yoruichi couldn't move. She was aware of Soi sparing her a final glance before she turned and left. Yoruichi didn't move. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt more than anything had any right to. And she was alone.

Yoruichi raised a shaking hand to her mouth, stifling the cry that was threatening to spill from her lips. Soi was gone. She was alone. And it had all been a lie.

* * *

**Well, it had to happen. I feel a little bad though...  
**

**Reviews are very welcome. Thanks you for all the support so far, hopefully you'll enjoy the rest of the fic just as much.**

_**It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry **_**by Glasvegas**


	31. In Trust of No One II

In Trust of No one II

_Every Failure_

The content of the mug was hot and its warmth seeped through the thin porcelain and heated his hands pleasantly. He had poured too much in, the milky fluid threatening to spill over the rim and scald him. Consequently, he walked slowly and carefully, not wanting to have to deal with burned hands on top of everything else. The living room was dimly lit with only a single lamp vainly trying to provide adequate illumination. He made a mental note to put a higher watt bulb in the thing; he much preferred well lit rooms. The poor lighting meant that he had to squint for a second to ascertain where all the furniture was located. Kuukaku had a mildly annoying habit of moving the furniture at random moments, so it was next to impossible to create a mental map of the room.

He glanced around the room, taking note that the furniture was still in exactly the same place that he had left, and also that the room was apparently empty. That was strange; he could have sworn that he'd left Yoruichi seated on the couch. A sniff drew his attention to the furthest corner of the room. He crossed over the room, looked behind the couch and found Yoruichi sitting on the floor and hugging her knees to herself.

He couldn't help the small smile that graced his face. "Hey," He said softly, sitting down next to her. "The couch too good for you?"

She didn't reply. Kisuke wasn't exactly sure what to do. He wasn't very good with people normally, never mind when they were an emotional wreck. Kuukaku was much better at the kind of thing, but she wasn't here right now and he couldn't rely on her excellent if rough people skills. He handed Yoruichi the steaming mug of tea, he had made it for her after all, and his mother insisted that a cup of tea could cure all woes. Yoruichi took it, mumbling a thank you, and leant back against the wall, her legs straightening out.

"It's hot, so be careful," Kisuke said. He watched as she blew on the tea before taking a sip. She looked a mess; her hair had come down from its ponytail and was mussed up, her eyes were red raw and swollen from crying and her cheeks were streaked with dried tears and perhaps a little blotchy. She looked beautiful.

He sighed and settled himself closer to her, his arm brushing against hers. It was unusual to see her in such a state. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her cry, never mind seen her reduced to such a blubbering wreck.

He had known what was going on the moment Soi had barged past him and torn from the house like the place was burning down. He had waited. Let Yoruichi go after her, and waited. He had judged the time it would take for them to finish up and then he had gone after Yoruichi. He had found her alone on the path, gazing out over the river and looking completely lost. He had brought her back, holding her hand in his own, and once he had her in the house he hadn't said anything and she had cried and cried and cried. And somehow through the tears she had managed to tell him what had happened.

Soi had been working for Masaru.

He was shocked. Not that Soi was working for Masaru, he had known that. What had him surprised was that she had told Yoruichi. He certainly hadn't expected that. Actually, he had been counting on her not telling Yoruichi that minor fact.

He turned his head to observe the woman next to him. She was occasionally sipping her tea, and seemed to have calmed down. She was only sniffling sporadically now rather than constantly. She felt warm next to him and he had to resist the urge to lean closer into her.

"Feeling better?" He asked. It was a stupid question; of course she wasn't feeling better. Yet it was one of those innocuous questions that had to be asked in situations like this.

She shrugged half-heartedly. "Yeah. Thanks Kisuke."

"Don't mention it," He smiled again, his arm going around her shoulders and pulling her close for a half-hug. Her head fell against his shoulder and they remained like that a moment. He was always a little surprised by how small she actually was. She exuded such an air of confidence that she seemed like a much bigger person, taller and more solidly built. It was very easy to forget that she was actually, physically, tiny.

"Where's Kuukaku?" She asked, shifting next to him and setting the now empty mug on the floor.

"We figured that you should stay with us for a bit."

She nodded. "Thanks."

They both fell silent. Yoruichi's head fell against Kisuke once more, and he had to admit it felt very nice there and with her leaning against him like this. He pulled her in closer, indulging himself for a moment, his thumb brushing back and forth against the bare skin of her arm.

He felt momentarily lost. He didn't like not knowing what was going on. He had worked it all out in his mind, predicted how Soi would react to the news that Yoruichi had been unfaithful and he had planned accordingly. His eyes slipped closed and he considered the progress so far. He could see it clearly in his mind; the way it all fit together, all the people that were involved and the situations. He saw it as a machine, a mechanism; whirring cogs clunked together and all working towards a single purpose. All mechanisms served a purpose, and his was a thing of beauty. It was comprised of people; of the Gotei 13, Shinji and his group, and even Aizen's lot. They were the bolts and screws, the wheels and cogs that made up his glorious mechanism. He had even included himself in it. He was, he couldn't help but smirk, the grease that made sure it ran smoothly.

Had he been alone he might have chuckled at the image. He held it back though; Yoruichi was in no mood to listen to his inane laughter. Instead he sighed. He saw in his mind the mechanism once more and he saw the piece that no longer fit. It happened, occasionally a cog was worn, a screw that was the wrong grade or even a loose bolt. It was such a small thing that it was easily overlooked, but it could eventually lead to the entire mechanism breaking down. He couldn't rick that happenings, he had put too much work into this to see it fall apart now.

Next to him Yoruichi sniffed. She rubbed at her swollen eyes with her fists, and he tightened his hold on her, drawing her closer to him. He tried to ignore how good it felt to have her close, to hold her.

Soi hadn't reacted how he had expected. He hadn't factored in her anger, her need to hurt Yoruichi in turn. She had broken Yoruichi and in doing so she had weakened the mechanism as a whole. He wasn't angry, it had been his mistake, he should have realised how Soi would react. He had thought that he had known her mind, and he had made the arrogant assumption that he could guess her thought process and he had been wrong. There was no predicting the human heart.

And now he had this piece; this screw, this loose bolt or worn cog that didn't fit and he didn't know what to do with it. Fortunately, he liked puzzles and this certainly was a noggin scratcher. The loose piece might fit somewhere else within the mechanism, might serve a completely different purpose to what was originally specified. That would be helpful; he liked pieces that were multifunctional. Unfortunately he didn't think that this particular piece was multifunctional. It was too stiff, too brittle; it held a very specific place within the mechanism and could only serve one purpose. And if it couldn't serve that purpose then it was useless and would have to be discarded.

It almost scared him to think like this, where he had reduced the people round him to tools and bolts that could be so easily thrown away once they had served their purpose. But he had to think like this. His mechanism was beautiful and it had to be as close to perfection as he could get it. The mechanism he had created was meant to carry out a single purpose.

His eyes rested on Yoruichi, and he smiled softly. She had one hand laid over her eyes and her bottom lip trembled. Her shoulder shook, just slightly, just enough to let him know that she was crying again. He held her tighter and let her cry it all out. He wasn't one hundred percent sure that it was the right thing to do, but he knew he couldn't stop her from crying even if he tried. He knew exactly what it felt like to have your heart broken.

"I feel stupid," She said after a while, her voice thick and unsteady.

He knew how that felt too. "You shouldn't," He replied.

"But I do," She dropped her hand from her face, revealing the damage her tears had done to her usually flawless features. "I keep trying to figure out how long she was working for him. Kisuke, what if she was always working for him?"

"There's no point thinking about it now. You should just try to get some rest."

She shook her head. "I can't. I need to know."

"Look," He shifted round so that he was facing her, and he took one of her hands in his. She had such tiny hands and his could easily close over hers. "Just get some sleep. Everything will seem that little bit better in the morning." That was a lie. In all likelihood it would probably hurt worse in the morning. Raw emotion was blocking out the real pain. "And then tomorrow you can go get your hair cut or something," He continued.

Confusion flickered over her face and she stared at him. He took hold of her other hand and stood up, pulling her to feet with him.

"Isn't that what you girl's do in situations like this?" He asked in his most serious voice. "Get a haircut?"

For a moment the incomprehension stayed on her face, and then she, finally, laughed at his feeble joke. It was small, offset by the hiccupped sob that she emitted at the same time, but there was the barest hint of a smile on her face.

She hugged him. Her face pressed into his chest and her arms circling round his back. "Thank you, Kisuke."

"Really, don't worry about it," His own smile was also small, sad even. His arms went around her and he held her gently, as though he was afraid that she'd shatter like glass if he held her too tight. It felt good to hold her, too good. His heart swelled in his chest, it felt warm and strong and it ached terribly. It was a good pain though and he wouldn't give it up for anything in the world.

He thought of his mechanism and of all the people who made it. And then he thought of the things he had done, the awful, dreadful things he had had a hand in. Holding her reminded him why he had done it all in the first place.

All for her. Everything for her.

He heard the back door open and then close loudly, signalling Kuukaku's return. Perfect timing, Kuukaku was reliable like that. Giving Yoruichi a final squeeze, he dropped his arms from around her and stepped back out of her embrace.

She sniffed, and he couldn't resist lifting his hand to wipe away a wayward tear with his thumb. She looked so very beautiful.

He smiled for her. "I think I'll leave you in Kuukaku's much more capable hands," He held his hand against her cheek as he spoke, indulging his own weakness. She didn't lean into his touch, but then she didn't pull away either. "She's much better at this kind of thing."

That was true, neither of them could argue against it. Still, Kisuke felt an odd tug, a pang in his chest as he left Yoruichi with Kuukaku. He wanted to stay with her, to be the one who comforted her. He sighed. He was a practical man, and he had things to take care of. At the forefront of his mind was a certain problem; a loose screw, a worn cog, a young woman who had acted in a way that he hadn't expected.

He slowly made his way downstairs and into the basement. He had a very important phone call to make. He had a good idea now of what Soi's next move would be and he sincerely hoped that he was wrong.

/\/\/\

Toshiro's fingers fumbled with the key. They felt thick and heavy, and were uncooperative with the task of opening the door. He felt nervous, which didn't help. Sweat laced his lower back and slicked his hair to his forehead. He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be doing this. The knowledge that he was breaking the law only served to make him shake, the key rattling in the lock. There was clearly a knack to getting the stupid thing to work, and he rather annoyingly didn't know it.

Finally the door relented, the lock clicking as the key turned. He slipped inside the darkened apartment, closing the door quietly behind him. He put the key safely back in his pocket and nearly sighed with relief that he hadn't been caught. He patted the pocket that now held the key, juts for reassurance. From his other pocket he pulled out a small torch. It had been a gift from Momo for Christmas and had a keychain fixed to it. He hadn't found a use for it until now. Swivelling round the metal casing, dim light was emitted from the small device. He was thankful that it was pathetically weak; he didn't want anyone to know that he was here and he feared that a bright torch shining out the windows would alert people to his presence.

He wondered if he was being at all paranoid.

Toshiro kept the pitiful beam of light shining low, just enough to let him know where he was going. The place was a tip. That didn't surprise him in the least; she had always been a bit of a slob. He winced as the past tense rolled through his head. It was so easy to think of her as gone. As dead.

He shook his head, he had a job to do and standing around feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to get it done. He did take a brief moment though to reassure himself, to tell himself that she was still alive, and that he would find her.

People like Matsumoto Rangiku were hard to kill after all, and he _would_ find her.

He stubbed his toe on something hard and heavy, and he bit back a yell of pain. Did it never occur to the woman to clean her apartment? He hobbled heroically onwards; his big toe throbbing as he mentally cursed his shoes for providing him inadequate protection against the perils of Rangiku's floor. He looked about the room, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. Mess might have been an understatement for the place. Piles of clothes had erupted up all over the small living room, empty crisp packets and bottles were dotted about, the parts of the low coffee table he could make out were stained with coffee coloured rings were she'd neglected to use a coaster. How the hell was he going to find anything in this landfill of an apartment?

He had to stop himself from growling out a string of expletives. He didn't like cussing, and he was also very aware that if he started he might now stop for quite some time. And once again he reminded himself... He shouldn't be here.

Both the police and the Gotei 13 had already raked through the place. Both said that beyond the bloody knife found in the blood stained kitchen there was no sign of anything being amiss. That annoyed him. Wasn't a bloody knife and whacking great blood stain enough evidence to suggest that something was most certainly amiss? He was starting to suspect that there was a poor attempt at a cover up going on. Everyone seemed so content to pretend that Rangiku had gone on an extended holiday.

Something was very wrong. It was as though someone within the Gotei 13 didn't want the truth to be known. He was starting to suspect that there was a traitor within the Gotei 13. It was why he had negated to inform them that he was in possession of a key to Rangiku's apartment. It was also why he hadn't raised his suspicions of there being a traitor among their ranks with anyone from the Gotei 13. He didn't know who he could trust. His gut told him to trust no one.

He crept from the living room and made his way towards her bedroom. Even though the police and the Gotei 13 had already ransacked the place, he was certain that there would be something here. Some shred of evidence that they had overlooked that would let him know why she was targeted in the first place. And once he knew that, he could start planning on how to get her back.

Her room somehow managed to be in a worse state than the rest of the apartment. He didn't understand how she had managed to create such a mess in such a short space of time, she had barely lived in this apartment for a week before she was taken, and yet she had made enough mess that was worthy of at least ten people. It almost made him smile.

He set about with his search, small torch still gripped in his sweaty hand. He felt a bit dirty looking through her personal possessions, but it was necessary. He found several photo albums filled to the brim with pictures of her and her friends. There one dedicated solely to her and Gin, which made him feel slightly angry and he had to force himself to flick through it. He found a scrapbook of clippings from various newspapers and magazines, all about her and her various accomplishments and appearances in the media. Looking through it made his throat feel tight, so he was as quick as he could be and put it to the bottom of the pile of things he had already looked through.

He glanced around the room. He had been hoping that he would find a diary or something that would explain what she had been doing in the days leading up to her disappearance. He moved to her bedside table, figuring that this was where she'd most likely keep something private. He probably should have looked here first, but since he felt wrong going through her things he had put it off. The top drawer contained junk, and was clearly where she shoved things that didn't have anywhere else to go. The second drawer surprised him in that is contained panties. He blushed, but squared his shoulders and dutifully rifled through them. There was no diary there, but he did find something at the back of the drawer that he really, really wished he hadn't. His face burning, he slammed the drawer closed.

He now felt slightly apprehensive about opening the third and final drawer. What if he found something even more embarrassing? Steeling himself, he slowly opened it and then sighed in relief; it was filled with papers. A thrill of excitement ran up his spine, perhaps somewhere among these documents he would find what he was looking for. He placed the small torch in his mouth and gripped it between his teeth, leaving both his hands free to rifle through the sheets. He felt his earlier anticipation wane as he did so; they were just bank statements. He had found nothing.

Growling in frustration, he shoved the papers back into the drawer and slammed it closed. Pushing himself to his feet, he made his way from the bedroom, trying to figure out where else he should look. He paused in the doorway and strained his ears. He glanced at the front door, his eyes widening as he heard the unmistakable sound of the lock turning. His breath hitched and sudden fear kept him rooted to the spot.

He shouldn't be here.

Slowly the door creaked open and light from the hallway spilled into the apartment, cutting through the darkness, and Toshiro heard the murmur of muffled voices from behind the door. He stepped back, snatching the torch from his mouth and quickly turning it off. He quickly moved back into the bedroom and hid himself from view. He clenched his jaw, listening to the new intruders as they made their way into the apartment.

There was no way out, Toshiro realised. He was trapped.

/\/\/\

She supposed that she should at least be thankful that it wasn't raining. The weather wasn't ideal, grey clouds loomed over head and there was a chill wind, but it was a damn sight better than she'd expected. Life had taught Lisa that when you needed to be outside and doing something important, then some other worldly force would make sure that the weather was as shitty as it could possibly be.

She stayed in her car though, eyeing the derelict building before her. She had been here for close to an hour already, merely observing the building as though she expected it to do something fantastical. It was empty; she knew that it was empty because her sources had told her that it was empty. And yet she couldn't muster up the effort to actually get out of her car, walk the pathetically short distance and open the old, rotten door and go inside said building. A little bit of her hoped that she wouldn't need to. She was afraid of what she might find in there.

"Stupid," she hissed to herself. She forced herself to get out of her car, stuffing her keys into her pocket where they felt uncomfortable against her leg. She really shouldn't have worn such tight jeans, she reflected. Too late now though, she could hardly go home and change. Besides, she liked these jeans, her ass looked great in them.

From the trunk of her car she retrieved a torch, it was fairly heavy but it was strong and that was what was important. She took a final moment to steel herself, going over in her mind the information she had gathered from various sources to make sure that she did indeed have the right place and also to note exactly who had directed her here. If this all turned out to be a wild goose chase she would not be pleased and someone would have to pay for it.

She did not like it when people wasted her time.

Heels tapping against the ground, Lisa walked swiftly towards the building. It was unremarkable, broken down and boarded up just like most of the building in this area. There was graffiti on the wall, next to the door, something written in Spanish that she couldn't read. It was messy and whoever had painted it clearly had zero artistic talent. Still, she memorized what it said just in case it turned out to be important. She doubted it, but she wasn't one to miss the little details.

The door was stuck, the wood swollen and sticking to the frame. She had to shove it hard just to make it budge an inch or two. She refused to give in to anger and kick it, so she put her shoulder to it and heaved until it opened wide enough for her to slip inside. She was suddenly thankful that she was so slim.

The first thing she noticed when she entered the building was the smell. She wrinkled her nose and grimaced, it smelt awful, like sewage and something worse. She clicked the torch on and swung the beam round to get an idea of the room. Empty, hard wood floors were littered with rubbish; empty cans and bottles and other such stuff that told her that at some point either homeless people or kids had infiltrated the place for some reason or other.

She could actually taste the air, which made her gag. She pulled her top up to cover her mouth and nose. What the hell was that smell? She moved slowly, cautiously through the room. It was small and it didn't take her long to move from that room and onto the next. From this room she could hear the steady drip of water coming from...

"Below? She looked down at the floor, the torch easily lighting it up. She tapped her heel against the wood and took note of the sound. Hollow and soft, there was a room below here and judging by the damp that had soaked through the floorboards it was flooded. She walked carefully; if the floorboards were damp then chances were that they were rotten and she really didn't want to fall through them - that would just be inconvenient.

A small part of her was excited by the prospect of there being a room underneath this one. Perhaps what she was looking for would be down there. She had spent the last couple of weeks following a mostly cold trail. Trying to find out what had happened to Matsumoto Rangiku. She shouldn't have done it really; it was none of her business what had happened to the blonde. Something about the situation, all the unanswered questions had lit a fire within Lisa though. She was nothing if not unashamedly curious.

Following the trial had been a mixture of pleasure and frustration. Whoever had taken Matsumoto had been very careful not to leave any evidence. Well, except for the infamous note (that Lisa annoyingly hadn't read) and the bloody knife. Lisa had managed to sweet talk some unassuming police officer who was supposedly working on the case into revealing that the blood on the knife wasn't Matsumoto's. Which meant that Matsumoto had probably been abducted unharmed.

After that early lucky break though, Lisa hit something of a dead end. No one seemed to know anything, all if her usual sources were drawing complete blanks. That annoyed her; she prided herself on her ability to find out information about anyone.

Bu sheer luck she had come across some information that had sent her following the trail that had led her to this very building. She was working with rumours. She didn't like using rumours as a means to work, but she had to work with what she was given. And one of her people, one of her most reliable people at that. Had told her about how a few nights back a shady group of people had dropped something off here.

She gripped the torch with her knees so that her hands were free, and from her pocket she pulled out a pair of latex gloves. She really didn't want to be touching anything in here. Annoyingly she had to go down on her knees to check the floorboards, it was slow tedious work. She tapped them with her knuckles, checked to see if they were loose or not and tried to pry a couple up. It took her over twenty minutes to find what she was looking for, one of the floorboards was loose and had recently been lifted. It was a slightly different shade to the ones next to it. In all likelihood whoever had put it down had turned it round when replacing it. She put the torch to the side, her fingers digging into the gaps between the long, narrow board and she pried it up.

She almost wished she hadn't bothered. If she thought that the smell was bad before, then it was nothing compared to what was coming from down below. She shone the torch down between the narrow gap. Water and quite a bit of it at that. There was a bust pipe, water trickling steadily from it that was probably the cause for the room below to be filled. She couldn't see anything else, so she pried up a couple more of the floorboards until she had a gap big enough to fit her head through.

The room was a lot smaller than this one and Lisa had the feeling that it was newly made. She estimated that the water was about a foot deep at best. She couldn't see if there was anything interesting down there or not. Sighing, she set the torch to the side and lowered herself down the gap. She lamented that her jeans and boots would probably be ruined by this, but it couldn't really be helped. Thankfully, it was only a short drop from the room about to the one below and she would easily be able to climb back out again. How embarrassing if she had to call Kensei or someone to rescue her.

"Right!" She reached up and grabbed the torch, shining the light about the tiny water clogged room. "What the hell is making that smell?"

She walked through the water, listening to the way it sloshed about her knees. It was cold, not cold enough o make her gasp, but enough to be uncomfortable. The floor beneath her felt fairly solid and she guessed that it was probably stone. She moved to the edge of the room and laid her palm flat against the wall, it was also stone which made her question her earlier guess that the room was newly made. Walking around the room, she dragged her feet slightly in case there was something under the water that she couldn't see. Her plan was simple, she would circle the room and work her way into the centre. This way she felt confident that if nothing would escape her notice.

She moved slowly, carefully, her steps measured. The constant trickle of water from the burst pipe was annoying and felt far too loud in such a confined space. IT made it difficult for her to think. And the smell made it very difficult to breathe!

She was about half way around the room when her foot snagged on something. She stopped and tested again, there was something looped over the pointed tow of her boot. She couldn't help but sigh in half relief. She had actually found something, which meant that this hadn't been a complete waste of time. Of course it might also mean that something awful had happened to the one she was looking for.

She tied to lift it with her foot, but it seemed to be stuck on something. She shone the torch down; hoping that its powerful beam would be able to illuminate whatever was down there. Annoyingly, the surface of the water was moving, sloshing against the walls and nowhere near still enough to let Lisa even get a hint of what was down there. She grunted and lowered herself, sucking in a sharp breath when the cool water hit dry clothes. Her hand slipped beneath the surface and she groped for her find. She frowned as her hand grasped the mysterious object, it felt like fabric, soft and thin in her grip. She tugged on it but it didn't budge. She pulled harder and foul tasting water splashed against her face. She spat and cringed, all the more determined to get the stupid thing out of the water. She set her feet firmly to the ground, tightened her grip and heaved with almost everything she had. She was doing it; she could feel the object lifting.

It broke the surface with an understated splash, and she lifted it and whatever it was connected to triumphantly into the air and into the torchlight. She blanched, seeing exactly what it was connected to. Another hand gripped the fabric tightly, the fingers bent and broken, locked into place. The nails were gone and the tips black, the flesh along the forearm was white, rippled with blue patches beneath it and was soft like swollen pudding. For the rest of her life, Lisa would be thankful that she was alone and no one was there to witness what she did next: she screamed. It was a high and girly shriek that bordered on hysteria. She beat at the hand with her torch, screaming and thrashing all the while. The flesh on the hand and arm burst as she hit it, it dropped into the water below with a splash and making her scream all the more. Eventually the fingers cracked and broke, the death grip released and the hand sunk back beneath the murky water.

Lisa moved with all the speed and grace of the terrified. She hauled herself up through the gap in the floorboards, still gripping her prize in her hand. She scuttled across the floor like a beetle, and huddled into the corner trying to calm her breathing. Her heart was beating a frantic pace and seemed to be lodged in her throat. No wonder the place smelled so bad; there was a rotten body down there. And then she realised something. All that water she had been standing in was contaminated by the corpse, and she had got some of it in her mouth.

She rolled onto all fours and retched. She didn't think anything more disgusting had ever happened to her in her entire life. She lifted a shaking hand to her mouth and wiped it, hoping that she hadn't swallowed any of the water. Her eyes went whatever it was she had retrieved from there. She set it down on the ground and shone the torch on it, frowning. It was a necklace, a pink strip of fabric with a golden heart attached. The baric had been torn at some point and then retied, and the gold on the heart was dull and filthy. It wasn't the type of thing she would wear, impractical and too gaudy, but she knew someone who might have worn it. Her head turned and she looked back to the whole in the floor.

There wasn't anything she could do about the body yet, so she took her time in pacing the floorboards back. She didn't want anyone else stumbling onto her little find. She would tell Shinji, perhaps she would even tell the Gotei 13. After all, they were looking for the Matsumoto too. Once the task of re-hiding the body was complete, she gathered her things and slowly made her way out of the old building. It was difficult to walk in her wet clothes and her boots squelched with each step she took, but she endured.

The cold wind chilled her when she stepped outside, and she had hunched her shoulders against it. Something was wrong, she realised. Raising her head, she squinted through the night and saw exactly what was wrong. There was someone sitting on her car, just perched on the hood as though she had the right to do so. From behind the car two more women emerged, both of them looking directly at Lisa.

"Who the hell is she?" The one sitting on the car demanded, her finger pointing at Lisa. "She's not who we were told to get!"

Lisa frowned, and she slipped the necklace discreetly into her back pocket. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked her voice calm to the point of almost sounding bored. They were young, she realised.

"You're talking too much, Apache," one said. She was small and unassuming with long straight, dark hair. "The plan is still the same, even if this isn't the one we were waiting for."

"Oh I get it," Lisa said loudly. "This is a trap. I go in there, look about a bit and when I come out you girls were supposed to jump me."

The third girl walked closer into the light, she was taller than the other two and dark skinned. "If she's not the one we're here for, then she's not important," Her words were big, but there was a slight hesitancy to the way she spoke. She held her left arm close to her as thought it hurt her. "We should just get rid of her."

Lisa sighed loudly. "If you're planning on killing me, then you should say so. Using words like: 'get rid of' makes you sound childish."

All three bristled at that. The small one on her car jumped to her feet, no doubt denting the hood. "You're in no position to sound so cocky!"

Lisa fixed her eyes on the little one, brash and full of fire and no doubt easily distracted. She would be the one to make a mistake. "And what kinds of position do you girls think you're in that allows you to make threats? Because I assure you, I do not feel threatened."

All three of them stared at her. Lisa had the figured out though, she knew exactly how this would happen. They'd bluster, make threats and eventually after they'd finally worked up the guts, they would attack. All three of them were in for a very rude awakening.

Lisa adjusted her glasses, making the movement look as casual as possible. She smiled at her girls, and tossed the torch into the air and catching it. She weighed it in her hands, the heaviness of it feeling secure in her grip.

"Well then kids," She said, tauntingly. "Let's see what you've got."

/\/\/\

The receiver clicked softly into place as he placed it down. His hand remained gripping it though, and he let out a long and tired sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and middle finger, before rubbing at his eyes with the two digits. Everything seemed to be becoming a lot more complicated than it needed to be. Still, he hadn't complained thus far, and he wasn't going to start now. He had a job to do, and he always put one hundred and ten percent into every job he did, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant it may seem.

He took a moment to clear his thoughts; he never rushed if he could help it, when people hurried they made mistakes. Head cleared and thoughts in order, he set about getting ready. He changed into something more appropriate, it would not do to be seen in his pyjamas, so instead he put on plain black trousers and a white shirt, both without creases. He made sure that his hair was in order, appearances were everything, and then sat down on the edge of his bed so that he could pull his shoes on. They were brand new, black and shiny, and unbelievable uncomfortable.

Standing, he checked his appearance in the mirror to make sure that everything was in order. There was a thumb print on the left lenses of his glasses. He wasted a full two minutes wiping it off.

It was late and the Shihouin mansion was mostly in darkness. The time of night didn't bother him though; he knew that most of the occupants, servants, security and what not, would still be awake. Sometimes he wondered if anyone who lived within the grand house actually ever slept.

He strode down a long corridor, nodding to a passing security guard as he went. Shihouin Masaru had twice as many security personnel than he did servants, and he had a small army of servants, which seemed ridiculous since it was all for one man. He eventually made it to his first stop of the night, the surveillance room. He opened the door without knocking, generally he considered behaviour like this extremely rude, but he was filling a role here and occasionally he had to do things he didn't like. The lone security guard jumped at the sound of the door abruptly opening. He looked back over his shoulder, a guilty look on his face. No doubt he'd been slacking off work, probably napping.

He ignored the guard and focussed instead on the myriad of monitors that were located at the end of the room. There was a monitor for nearly every part of the mansion and grounds. Never let it be said that Shihouin Masaru wasn't security conscious.

"Anything interesting?" He enquired, stepping further into the room. He tried to remember the security guard's name, but drew a blank.

The guard shrugged. "Nothing."

Kenji? Was that the guards' name? He was fairly certain that it began with a K. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind; he let his eyes scan over the flickering monitors until he found what he was looking for.

"What about this?" He tapped the monitor in question with a single thick finger. On it he could see the large iron gates of the Shihouin compound, and at the gates he could make out someone pacing and occasionally rattling them.

The guard leaned forward and looked at the monitor, and then he gave another disinterested shrug. "Just some dumb kid," He explained. He..." The guard squinted at the screen. "... Sorry, _she_ has been out there a good hour now. Says she wants to see the boss. Toda told her to fuck off, but she didn't listen." He smirked. "We've been placing bets on how long she'll stay out there."

"Indeed," He disliked the guards' course language and the immature games he was playing, and he found it difficult to keep his distaste from his voice. "Except that the boss is expecting her and will probably want to see her."

There was something oddly enjoyable about watching the smirk slip from the guard's face. The panic that replaced it was also quite satisfying.

"R-right!" The guard grabbed the transceiver at his left breast and hastily blurted a message to Toda to let the girl in.

Nodding, He slapped a large hand down on the guards' shoulder. "Stall her. I need to speak to the boss alone."

He knew that the guard would do as he told him, which was fortunate. Leaving the surveillance room, he made his way to Shihouin Masaru's office at a perfectly average pace. He felt slightly nervous, unsure of exactly what would happen tonight. He rapped his knuckles against the closed door and waited for Masaru to bid him enter.

"Come."

Even through the door he could make out that soft voice of Masaru's clearly, as though he was standing right next to him. It made him shudder. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. Entering, he closed the door behind him and then presented himself for Masaru.

"Oh, it's you," Masaru didn't sound surprised, merely interested. He was stood across the moderately sized room, turned so that he was facing the far wall.

"We have a visitor," He dutifully informed his boss.

"I am aware," Masaru turned to face him. "You may leave."

"Forgive me sir, but I will not."

Masaru's golden eyes fixed themselves on him, there was anger in those orbs but it was muted.

"The visitor may present a danger to you," He explained. "It would be lax of me to leave you without protection."

The anger in Masaru's eyes waned and eventually he nodded his consent. "Very well, do as you must."

He moved to go stand behind Masaru's desk, but halted when he noticed the tremors that ran up the old Shihouin's body.

"Would you like a hand, sir?"

"I'm fine!" Masaru snapped, his usually silky smooth voice wavering. He wobbled on his feet and took a few tottering steps towards his chair. He didn't look fine at all. Sweat laced his brow and his hair was limp, his skin was paler than usual and was almost ashen. Large dark circles loomed under his bleary eyes, and his lips were dry and cracked.

"I shall go get you pills."

"No, no," Masaru waved his hand dismissively. With some effort he made it to his chair and sunk down into it. "They make me drowsy, and I need to stay alert for this."

He stepped back, keeping a watchful gaze on Masaru as he settled himself into his chair. He clasped his hands together and placed out on the desk in plain view.

_... Soon ... _The voice in his head said _... Soon ..._

It was close to ten minutes before a call was made to inform them of their guests' imminent arrival. There was silence before she entered the office, the calm before the storm. She didn't so much as open the door, as nearly kick it clean of ft's hinges. For such a destructive entrance, he had been expecting someone much bigger. She was tiny; all bones and awkward angles without a single shred of meat on her to speak of. She wasn't anything special to look at, her face was hard and the scowl made her ugly. He fancied though that she probably had a beautiful smile, it was just rare to see it.

All in all, she was quite unremarkable. And then she fixed her steel grey eyes on him, and he had to stop himself from gasping and stepping back. Her eyes were filled with hate.

"Ah, Shaolin, what a pleasure to see you," Masaru smiled, almost sounding like he meant it.

Her gaze swung to him. "Did you know?"

Masaru didn't reply, merely looked at the girl. She glared right back at him.

Absurdly, he felt afraid. Anger rolled off of this girl in waves, each one more terrible than the last. She looked like a wounded animal that had been backed into a corner. She was dangerous, he could tell just by looking at her and he silently hoped that Masaru didn't plan on taunting her.

"Did I know what?"

"Don't fuck with me!" Her voice was dangerously low, like ice and made him think of metal scraping against metal.

Masaru's face hardened. No one spoke to him like that, no one. This was dangerous ground for the girl, she had to know that. Masaru seemed to be in a good mood though, or perhaps he was too tired to do anything since he remained silent.

"I haven't a clue what you are on about, Shaolin," He said in that velvety smooth voice of his after a prolonged pause.

Her face twisted. "Did you know that Yoruichi was fucking her assistant behind my back?"

He felt his eyes close and something in him emphasized with her. He had known a little of what had happened between her and Yoruichi, but he hadn't known this. He wasn't sure why he felt so surprised by it, or why he also felt disappointed. He pitied this girl.

Once again Masaru took his time answering. He seemed more interested in his own hands than in the girl. She was breathing hard; her fists were clenched at her sides and she was quivering with barely suppressed fury.

He didn't trust her. In the state she was in she might do anything. She clearly didn't care anymore; her eyes had that desperate look to them that those who thought they'd lost everything got. He'd seen it before. He countered the steps between her and Masaru and tired to calculate how quickly she could close the distance. She was fast, he could tell just by looking at her that she was fast, but he figured that he could intercept her if she tried anything.

Masaru let out a small sigh. "I am sorry to hear that, Shaolin," He said. "But I did not know. I can't say that I am surprised by this information though."

"I don't believe you!"

"Why ask if you are unwilling to believe?" He sounded patient, as though he was speaking to an upset child. It might actually work; she might simply need to be talked down. And Masaru had a voice that people felt compelled to listen to, silk soft and so insistent. "If I had known of Yoruichi's indiscretion, then I would have used it. You would have found out about it a lot earlier, I can assure you."

The words were not kind, but they were the truth. Masaru most certainly did not approve of his daughter's relationship with this girl, and if he had known of something that might break them up, then he surely would have used that information to his advantage. The girl knew it. She looked away and glared at the floor. For a moment it looked as though her rage might crumble and be drowned in her grief.

"Did you come all the way here just to ask me that?" Masaru enquired. "You could always have phoned. It would have saved you the walk." Her head snapped up. "You've left me in a difficult position, Shaolin," Masaru continued. "You told Yoruichi the truth, didn't you? She now knows that you have been working for me."

"Yes," There was a certain amount of satisfaction to her answer, as though she had enjoyed every second of revealing that information to Yoruichi.

He didn't need to be able to see Masaru's face to know that the old man was smiling. "It is fortunate that I find you so interesting," He said. "You are now quite useless to me. You are worse than useless, you are a hindrance. You are now in the way of my plans."

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you know too much for me to let you walk out of here."

The silence that followed was tense. He watched as the girl realised exactly what Masaru was saying. Her brow inclined, just ever so slightly, and her hard eyes stared at the man before her. He mapped in his mind what she would do; he counted the steps it would take for her to reach Masaru and the time it would take him to intervene. He wondered if he should, perhaps it would be better in the long run if he just let this girl exact her revenge.

And then she laughed. "You almost had me there."

"Did I now?" Masaru didn't sound at all amused.

"You're not going to do anything to me," She sounded confident. She was smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You find me too interesting."

"If you do this Shaolin, there will be no going back."

The smile dropped from her face. "I've already made my choice."

Masaru sat up in his chair. "You will have to quit college."

"I didn't like the course anyways," she tossed her head as she spoke, as if the deal she was striking meant nothing to her.

"You will not be able to go home, not back to China."

"I'm not stupid. The things I've seen, the things I've done," Her mouth twisted again, like there was a bitter taste in her mouth. "The Gotei 13 were hardly going to just let me walk away."

Masaru's voice was so soft it was difficult to hear when he spoke again. "Yoruichi will never forgive you."

Something changed, her eyes flashed like polished steel and she seemed harder than she was before. "I hate her."

He could well believe it, with the anger in her eyes and the venom in her voice. It was a childish thing to say, but she managed to fill each word with more anger, more hate than the last. He could easily believe that she hated Yoruichi. But he didn't.

"Don't get me wrong though," She said. "I hate you too."

"You don't have to like me to work for me," Masaru pushed himself to his feet. He was no longer shaking and looked much steadier than he had in recent days. "We have a deal then. You are now mine, and let's make no mistake about this: you are _my_ creature, not the Gotei 13's or anyone else."

She smirked and crossed the short distance to Masaru's desk, holding out her hand towards him. He took it and shook it, firmly, a smile creasing his wrinkled face.

"Still have a firm handshake, I see," He gripped her hand tightly and then dropped it. "I am curious though, I know what I will get out of this deal, but what will you?"

She stepped back from him. "What will I get?" She tilted her head to the side, a cruel smile slicing up her features. Her eyes were like steel, hardened and cold and glinting in the pale light. They were cruel and they were filled with hate, and they were fixed upon Shihouin Masaru. "That's my business."

"Secrets, eh?" Masaru chuckled. "Very well. Keep your little secrets, so long as they don't interfere in my own plans then I don't care. We still want the same thing, after all and I trust that you won't disappoint."

"I never disappoint," She turned from him. "You're paying me this time. And I expect that you'll be paying me quite a lot."

"I'm sure that you'll be worth every yen, Soifon," Masaru replied softly, sounding so very pleased with himself.

Something awful had happened here this night; he just knew that it had. His stomach squirmed uncomfortably and he needed to leave this office right this instant. He waited though, waited until Masaru and Soi had finished ironing out the little details and she had left. He waited until Masaru had decided to retire for the night and then he rushed from the office. He nearly ran down the corridors, ignoring everyone that he passed in his haste. He made it too his room in record time, slamming and locking the door behind him.

The phone was where he had left it, and his hands shook as he picked up the receiver and punched in the number. It was ringing. He felt jumpy, nervous and couldn't stay still. His hand drummed against his thigh as he waited for the call to be answered.

"... yeah?"

He nearly sighed in relief at the sound of his old friend's voice. "Urahara-san."

"Tessai!" Urahara perked immediately. "Is she there? What did you find out?"

Tessai took his time in answering. "We might have a small problem, sir."

That might have been the understatement of the year.

* * *

**You people have no idea how much fun I had with this chapter! It might actually be my favourite one yet. I hope you guys enjoyed it even half as much as I did.**

**Click ze review button to tell me what you think. And thanks you for all the reviews, faves and whatnot so far. You're all awesome!**

_**In Trust of No one**_** and **_**Every Failure**_** by Charon (awesome band)**


	32. Half Empty Bottle

**Unnecessarily long author's note ahoy!**

**First off, I'm sorry that there was such a long wait for this update. I decided to take a bit of a break from writing this, mostly because the story was getting to me and not in a good way, but also because I've reached a point where I need to make sure that what I've got planned will actually work. I didn't want to rush into this and make a mess of it all. I also wanted to dedicate some time to my other fics. Admittedly in the break I only updated **_**Winning Isn't Everything**_**, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been working on future projects.**

**Secondly, the spelling of the characters names; I think at this point everyone will be aware that **_**Mask**_** confirmed the official Romanization for most of the characters names, the important one here being that Soi Fon is actually Sui-Feng. I prefer Sui-Feng and in all my other fics I will be using that spelling, I will not though be changing the spelling for this fic. It's far too much work to go back and change it and I am a lazy fuck, so we'll be keeping with "Soi" here.**

**If I had a third point then I have forgotten it, which is probably for the best. On with the fic, please enjoy and all the rest. My bad for taking up your precious time.**

**

* * *

**

Half-Empty Bottle

The intruders were making more noise than Toshiro thought was necessary. He might have been an amateur at breaking and entering, but at least he knew that keeping quiet was generally considered a good idea. This simple thought didn't seem to have crossed their minds. They were making enough noise for a dozen men, talking loudly and clunking around with heavy feet, it was almost as if they wanted someone to hear them.

From their voices he knew that they were male, that they were looking for something and also that they knew Rangiku. The knowledge that they knew Rangiku only served to make Toshiro feel even more nervous – what if they were the Gotei 13? Or even the ones that had taken Rangiku in the first place? Should he confront them?

Toshiro shook his head, deciding against that idea quickly. He was alone and there were at least two of them, and though he was pained to admit it, he was only a kid and he didn't count on his chances against one of them never mind two. Hiding wasn't an option either, he would only trap himself. He had to be patient, wait for an opportunity and then make his escape.

He edged closer to the open door, keeping his back flat against the wall. He needed to be able to see where about they were. If they were to go into the kitchen then that would provide the perfect opening for him to make his escape. His hand brushed against the doorframe, and he swallowed, mentally preparing himself to look around the corner.

He froze when one of them spoke, "See if there's anything in the kitchen..."

That was lucky! A small smile crept up Toshiro's face at this news - perhaps he'd be able to make a quick, clean escape.

"... and I'll check the bedroom."

That wasn't so lucky. Panic flared up inside of Toshiro as a shadowed figure loomed in the doorway. A thin hand groped along the wall searching for the light switch, mere inches from Toshiro's head. The lights came on and Toshiro was momentarily blinded by the brightness.

"It's even messier in here," the intruder muttered as he sauntered casually into the room.

Toshiro couldn't help but agree with him; the room looked even worse with the lights on; piles of discarded clothes were heaped around the small room and from beneath them dirty plates poked out, there was a collection of dirty mugs on the dresser and an assortment of litter decorated the room. Toshiro shook his head at the state of the place.

The intruder picked up a couple of items of clothing from one of the piles and seemed to inspect them.

_This is my chance, _Toshiro thought. Pressing himself even closer to the wall he slowly edged towards the door. The intruder still hadn't noticed him, apparently too interested in Rangiku's dirty laundry to pay any heed to the presence behind him. And then Toshiro stopped. Frowning, he stared at the intruder's back; he was tall and slimly muscular, with black spiky hair, and Toshiro realised that he knew him.

"Hisagi?" Toshiro blurted in surprise.

Hisagi turned around, his eyes wide in surprise. His hands were holding something up to his face, something small and frilly and... Lacy?

"Are those Rangiku's panties?" Toshiro demanded pointing his finger at Hisagi. He could feel his face burning in embarrassment.

"Uh..." Hisagi quickly hid the panties behind his back. "No. No they're not."

Toshiro glared at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I... uh..." Hisagi stuttered, looking shocked. His face was infused with colour as he continued to stumble over his words, "I um... Had to... Uh..." His expression froze and the confusion there slowly ebbed away. "Wait... What are _you _doing here?"

Toshiro's eyes widened as he realised his error. He had just blown his perfect opportunity to escape unnoticed.

He sighed in annoyance. "Look," he started, rubbing his temple with the heel of his palm as he spoke, "it's not all that important. I was just... checking on the place. Making sure everything was in order."

It was a terrible lie from a terrible liar and Hisagi didn't look fooled. He stared at Toshiro, his jaw clenched and his hands still behind his back. Neither of them moved and neither spoke. Thankfully they were both momentarily spared the embarrassment of attempting to come up with another feeble excuse as Kira blustered into the room.

"W-what's going on?" He said, standing in the doorway looking pale and shaky. His eyes darted from Hisagi to Toshiro. "Shiro-Chan?"

"Don't call me that!" Toshiro yelled. He blushed and attempted to rein back his anger, mentally cursing Momo for calling him that in front of her friends. He immediately felt bad; Kira flinched back from him and averted his gaze. He looked terrible Toshiro realised, nearly ill, his skin pale and sweat laced.

Another aggravated sigh escaped Toshiro and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right then," he muttered. "Fantastic."

/\/\/\

After several false starts over what to do next, they ended up sat in the kitchen at the table staring at each other. Hisagi still looked red in the face and Kira still had a pale, guilt ridden cast to his features. Toshiro sat in an angry silence, glaring at the pair of them.

"So..." Hisagi said, smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah... " Kira unhelpfully added.

The awkward silence returned as they both looked to Toshiro, clearly hoping that he'd add something to the stilted conversation.

He crossed his arms and increased the intensity of his glare. Kira sank a bit lower in his chair, having the good graces to at least look ashamed of himself. The ridiculous amount of time that it had taken for them to move from the bedroom to the kitchen had done nothing to lessen Toshiro's anger.

"Are we going to talk about this?" Hisagi asked.

"I don't have anything to say to a pair of perverts."

"Perverts?" Kira squeaked.

Hisagi's face went beet red and his jaw dropped.

"Yeah, perverts," Toshiro continued, "breaking into Rangiku's apartment to do... sordid things to her..." Toshiro felt his face heat up as he remembered what he had caught Hisagi doing. "Personal affects."

"But, but," Kira stammered. His face lost what little colour it had left as he babbled incoherently.

Hisagi was also making unintelligible noises, unlike Kira though, he was looking outraged.

Kira looked to Hisagi. "We didn't come here to do anything strange. We were just trying to help, that's all."

Toshiro turned his icy gaze to Kira. "Help? What do you mean?"

"We're trying to find Matsumoto," Kira said.

Toshiro really shouldn't have been surprised by this, but he was.

It was Hisagi's turn to emit a loud and aggravated sigh. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "No one in the Gotei 13 is willing to tell us what happened to her," he explained. "It doesn't matter who we ask, no one knows anything. Or they claim they don't know anything. We were starting to suspect that they're not even making an attempt to look for her."

"It's like they've given up," Kira added.

"More like they never even bothered trying to look for her in the first place," Hisagi muttered. "You heard the story they put out for the public, right? That she's decided to step back from the public eye. They make it sound like she's gone on holiday."

It was a relief to hear his own thoughts echoed back to him, and Toshiro relaxed deciding to trust these two a bit more. It would appear that they were here for the exact same reasons that he was.

"I was thinking the same thing," he admitted. "And I came here for pretty much the same reason. It was a long shot, but I was hoping that I could find something, anything, that would at least give me a clue as to what happened to her."

Hisagi nodded. "Did you find anything?"

Toshiro shook his head. "Nothing. The police and the Gotei 13 have already been through here, they must have taken what little evidence that there was."

Hisagi and Kira exchanged a glance, both their brows furrows.

"What is it?" Toshiro asked. Had they found something?

"I think we should show him," Kira said.

"He's probably already seen it," Hisagi replied.

"Seen what?" Toshiro demanded.

Once more Hisagi and Kira exchanged a glance. Hisagi shrugged his shoulders and sunk a bit lower in his chair. "The letter that Rangiku left," he said, "Have you seen it?"

"No," Toshiro said. "I haven't. No one I've spoken to seems to have a copy of it." Or they had been told to keep it from him, as he was starting to suspect.

With a grunt Hisagi stood up. From his pocket he retrieved a crumpled piece of paper, which he tossed down on to the table towards Toshiro.

Toshiro's breath caught in his throat. Hisagi couldn't possibly have got hold of the letter, could he? It almost seemed too good to be true. Picking up the letter, Toshiro brought it to himself and stared at it. It looked as though it had been read many times, the paper was worn and had been refolded to a point where it felt soft.

He felt suddenly nervous. Did he really want to know what was in the letter? These could very well be Rangiku's last words, was he prepared to read them?

Drawing in a deep breath to steady himself, he unfolded the paper. Rangiku's handwriting was an untidy scrawl barely legible across the page. She had written it in a hurry, he deduced. He knew for a fact that Rangiku, somewhat surprisingly, had very neat handwriting. She had also written it in English. He frowned at that, it seemed like an unusual thing to do.

"_Ola..."_

_What ... the... hell? _The note she had left them, possibly her final words, was complete and utter nonsense. His eyes scanned won the page and then went back to the top and he re-read it once more. It didn't matter how many times he read the stupid thing, it made absolutely no sense. True to form, Rangiku seemed perfectly content to waste everyone's time.

"I don't suppose you have any idea what she was going on about?" Hisagi asked. He had sunk even lower into his seat and had his arms crossed across his chest. He looked very much like he was sulking.

Toshiro shook his head slowly.

"I suppose we can forgive her for the spelling mistakes since she wrote it in English," Kira said. "But then why would she write it in English? The only thing I could think was that she didn't want her captors to know what she was writing."

"Which would make sense if she had left a note explaining what had happened to her," Hisagi said. "Instead she leaves a note about her cat of all things!"

Toshiro flattened the piece of paper down on the table, smoothing it with his palm. He stared at it, his eyes darting over the words as though he expected them to suddenly make sense to him. If he was to believe her note then she had actually just decided to take off, for a convalescence of all things and she needed someone to look after Heineko. Briefly he wondered what had happened to her cat...

"It's like she jerking us around," Hiasgi muttered. "It's easy to see why there are people within the Gotei 13 who think she's just taken off with Ichimaru."

Toshiro lifted his head to stare at Hisagi. "She wouldn't do that," he said firmly. "And I really hope that you're not one of those people."

"Of course not," Kira said immediately. Hisagi just grunted.

Toshiro returned his attention to the note. There had to be something here, something he had missed, she wouldn't just go off and leave them all.

"And we'll find her," Kira continued, "We just need to find a clue. And she'll be alright." Kira's words would have sounded reassuring if it sounded at like he himself believed them.

"Yeah well," Hisagi said. "When we do find her, someone's going to have to inform her that _hola _is spelled with an H."

"Oh, Rangiku you absolute genius," Toshiro exhaled.

"Huh?" Both Hiasgi and Kira stared up at him.

"All the spelling errors," Toshiro said. He stared down at the paper, his eyes picking out the different words. "There's never more than a single letter in the word that's wrong. And some of them are terrible mistakes. She wouldn't ever make those mistakes, I know she wouldn't."

"What are you getting at?" Hisagi sat up and leaned across the table, looking suddenly interested. "Are you saying she made those mistakes on purpose?"

Toshiro smiled, he actually smiled as he stared at the paper. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Give me a pen."

"I don't have a pen."

"Then find one!" Toshiro snapped at him. Both Hisagi and Kira lurched to their feet and began searching the kitchen for a pen. Toshiro turned his attention back to the note. "It's so obvious. She even spelled her cat's name wrong."

"Here." Hisagi handed him a pen and a piece of paper.

"Thank you," Toshiro said. He took them and wrote down each individual word that she had spelled incorrectly. "Do you see it?" He asked.

Hisagi and Kira crowded near him and peered down at the list. They were silent for a long time and Toshiro began to suspect that they were either stupid or he was seeing things. He really wanted just one of them to see what he could, just to know that he wasn't making a mistake.

"It's a name," Kira said eventually.

"Looks that way," Hisagi agreed.

Toshiro sighed in relief and then he wrote out the name.

"Harribel," Hisagi read off of the paper. "You think this is the one who took her?"

"Why else would Rangiku write it down?" Toshiro said.

"It's not a Japanese name," Kira pointed out. "There can't be all that many Harribel's walking around Tokyo."

"Right," Hisagi nodded his agreement. "But that doesn't mean that this guy will be easy to find. We should take this information to the Gotei 13. They'll have ways to find this guy."

"No," Toshiro said sharply. "We're keeping this from the Gotei 13."

"What? Why?"

Toshiro turned to them both. "Because they already know," He said. They stared at him in incomprehension. "Think about it," he continued, "what she's done here is obvious. The Gotei 13 has professionals working on this, people whose sole purpose is to work out these little niggling clues. You honestly think they missed this?"

"But if they didn't miss it," Kira said slowly. "You think that the Gotei 13 is deliberately ignoring the evidence?"

Ideally, Toshiro would have liked to keep his suspicions about the Gotei 13 to himself. He didn't know who he could trust and he knew enough about the Gotei 13 to know that it was a bad idea to get on their wrong side. With the discovery of Rangiku's clue though, Hisagi and Kira were in the same boat as him. He had no choice but to trust them.

"I don't think the Gotei 13 are looking for Rangiku," He said. "I think that they've given her up for dead. More importantly, I think that someone within the Gotei 13 is working with whoever it was who took Rangiku in the first place." They were staring at him. Kira's eyes were bulging and he was trembling. "Too many things have happened recently to suggest otherwise. Shiba's death and then the subsequent revelation of his... problems, the Gotei 13 should have been protecting him. How did a copy of his medical files make its way into the media? And then how did a group of thugs get into the Thirteenth bar in the first place? No one can find them. No one seems to be making the effort to find them."

"It could all just be coincidence," Hisagi said.

"Perhaps a med student sold Kaien's medical files to pay off debts," Kira suggested quietly.

Toshiro growled in frustration. "You're not thinking this through. Why is no one trying to find the one who killed Shiba? He attacked Kuchiki Rukia too and Shihouin Yoruichi. Those two are probably the most high profile clients on their lists. Shouldn't something be done about that?" He demanded. They exchanged looks. "And then Rangiku is abducted? How the hell did they get into her apartment? The only people who had keys to this place were Rangiku, myself and..." He left it open, hoping that they'd finish the sentence for him.

"And the Gotei 13," Hisagi whispered. "Fuck!"

Kira had moved away from them both and had his back turned. Toshiro watched him for a moment before turning his attention back to Hisagi, who seemed to be absorbing it all better than Kira was.

"So you see why we can't tell the Gotei 13 anything?"

"Yeah," Hiasgi replied. He sat down heavily in one of the chairs, his head in his hands. "But then how else do we find this Harribel?"

Relief washed over Toshiro. He had for a moment thought that perhaps both Hisagi and Kira would refuse to help him, perhaps that they would go straight to the Gotei 13 and inform them of his suspicions. Or that one of them was the traitor.

"I think I have an idea," he replied.

/\/\/\

Groaning, Lisa rolled onto her back and stared up at the blank ceiling. Her ribs ached and protested at the movement. She also had a headache, located just behind her eyes and making her unusually sensitive to the daylight streaming through the small open window.

She was currently lying in Hachi's surprisingly narrow bed. His apartment was located above a Laundromat and overlooked a particularly busy road and the sound of gridlocked traffic blazed into the room. She was surprised that she had managed to sleep through it. It wasn't so bad now that the traffic was stationary, when it had been flowing during the night the room had shook every time something larger than a car had rumbled past.

Sitting up, she pushed the covers off of herself and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She hissed at the pain the movement caused and then clenched her teeth as she stood up. Her left leg was stiff and she had to take a moment to bend it a few times before it would take her full body weight. Suppressing the urge to wince, Lisa took a few tentative steps. Everything seemed in working order. She ached and her arms and legs felt stiff, but she was fairly sure that there had been no permanent damage done.

She looked about the room, trying to find her clothes. She was currently wearing a shirt that she had borrowed from Hachi. It was so large that it fell far past her knees, and she probably could have fit her entire body through the neck hole. It occasionally slipped past her shoulders and she had to keep pulling it back up. She felt exposed in it, which was strange considering that beneath the shirt she was wrapped tightly in bandages and even if the shirt were to drop she wouldn't have been left completely naked. Hachi's room was small and under furnished, there was very few places that he could have left her clothes and she not notice them immediately. She figured that Hachi would have taken them away to be cleaned. She sighed, sometimes he was too caring.

She heard movement from outside of the room; the soft rumble of Hachi's voice and the insistent knocking of a visitor at the door. Hachi's quiet greeting was drowned out by the clamorous voices of Rose, Love, Kensei and Mashiro's far more enthusiastic greetings.

It made sense that Hachi would contact the others, but she still felt betrayed by him for doing so. She had gone to him for help, not them and if she had wanted them involved then she would have contacted them herself.

She couldn't tell if Shinji was here or not. If he was that he was keeping quiet, which wouldn't be like him at all. She decided that he wasn't here. She couldn't hear Hiyori and if she was absent then chances were that Shinji was with her. And this begged the question: Where exactly were they?

She moved to the closed door and leaned in close. Annoyingly she couldn't make out what the group was talking about. They were keeping their voices low and the only one Lisa could hear was Mashiro who was busy shouting at Kensei for absolutely nothing. Carefully, Lisa slide the door open a fraction, just enough so that she'd be able to hear the ensuing conversation. While she knew that the others would know that she was here, she didn't see why they should know that she was listening in.

Lisa was surprised when Hiyori's voice rose above the others din, she had made a rather quiet entrance. Hiyori was complaining loudly that Hachi's home was too small. Her words seemed rude, but Lisa knew that it was just Hiyori's way of expressing concern. If Hiyori was here then that meant that Shinji would be too, these days it was rare to find the one without the other.

That meant that the whole gang was here. The thought made her want to sigh. There was no real reason for them all to be here. When they were all in a room together it only led to bickering and they never got anything useful done. As far she could see they worked better in pairs, with one of them (usually her) passing messages between them. It left little room for argument. The noise they were all making only added to her feelings of exasperation. They would be squabbling again, and while there would be nothing malicious about it, it did waste precious time.

Finally Shinji spoke up and quietened down the rabble. Lisa immediately perked and started paying more attention. It was fairly unusual for Shinji to have remained as quiet as he had, and now that he was speaking his voice sounded serious.

"Alright, alright," he said sounding somewhere between bored and annoyed, "settle down. I know the place is small, but we had to meet here. Hachi, how's Lisa doing?"

"She'll be fine," Hachi replied. "Nothing appears to be broken. She's just bruised and feeling a little worse for wear."

"That's good news," Shinji said. "I would hate it if anything bad happened to her just because she can't handle a couple of kids!" His voice rose in volume at the end and Lisa had the distinct impression that it was for her benefit.

Sighing, she raised her hand to her face fully intending on pushing her glasses up her nose, only to remember that they weren't there. And then she remembered that they had been broken the previous night. Again she sighed. She opened the door and stepped out and felt more than saw all the faces turn towards her.

"Thank you for that, Shinji," She bit off. "And I can easily handle a couple of kids."

"Yeah," Kensei said, "then what happened?"

She turned towards the sound of his voice; she could barely see him, he was just a blurry figure in the back ground to her. She hated being without her glasses, being unable to read the various expressions on her friends faces. It left her feeling vulnerable.

"Firstly there were three of them," she said. "And in all honesty, they were nothing special. Young and inexperienced. They were easily frightened."

He hard Kensei mutter something under his breath before he spoke again, "If they were nothing special, then how did you end up in such a state?" He sounded angry, but she knew better than that. He was worried about her; he just didn't have a clue how to express his concern with anything other than anger.

Lisa wrapped her arms around herself protectively and shivered, not just from the cool air on her bare skin but from the memory of the previous night. Everything had been going so well. The three girls relied too much on intimidation and once they had learnt that she wasn't afraid of them they had faltered. She hadn't wanted to hurt them, nit really and in retrospect she wished that she hadn't. But they had kept pushing her and she had been forced to do something serious. Closing her eyes she could still feel the weight of the torch in her hand and could still feel way the bones in her arm had jarred when she had struck one of them with it. The girl had crumpled and not moved. The other two had stood in shock.

Shaking her head Lisa opened her eyes and scanned the room. She was fairly certain that everyone was looking at her, waiting for her next words with baited breath. She really wished her glasses hadn't been broken.

"They weren't alone," she said eventually. "There was a woman with them."

"A woman?" Kensei repeated. "Just the one?" He sounded astonished, and then he laughed bitterly. "You were taken down, and so badly, by a single woman? That's not like you Lisa."

"Think what you want," Lisa said. "But she was strong and incredibly fast. I didn't even see or hear her approaching. I didn't know she was there until she hit me." And she didn't think she'd ever forget the shock she had felt after that first blow. Or the pain. What disturbed her the most was that the woman hadn't said anything as she'd rained blows on Lisa's body, she had remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. Lisa shuddered.

"So long as you're okay, what does it matter?" Shinji said with a shrug. "There are other things that Lisa needs to explain to us. Like what she found."

Again all eyes were on Lisa and once more she felt exposed and vulnerable. It didn't help that she was cold and goose pimples had risen on her bare skin, or that she was shivering. None of them seemed too concerned about that though; they were just intent on hearing what she had to say.

"I followed a lead," she explained. "That there was a body in one of those abandoned building and the description of them men who had been seen taking it to the building fit that of those who attacked the Thirteenth bar. I decided to follow up on it. I thought that perhaps this body was Matsumoto's." They were all unusually silent. "I went there to have a look."

"Why'd you go on your own?" Love interrupted.

"Yeah, Lisa-Chan," Mashiro said. "Any one of us would have gone with you."

"I know you would have," She replied. "But I didn't think that I would need anyone else. I was only going to check it out. I figured that if I found something then I would be able to call you guys in later to help out. I didn't want to waste your time." She paused and took a deep shaky breath. She was starting to suspect that the tremors running up her body weren't caused just by the cold. "I'm sure Hachi's already told you all that I found a body. I also found a necklace that I believe belonged to Matsumoto."

Again with the silence, why weren't they saying anything? She tightened her hold on herself, her fingers digging into the bare flesh of her sides.

"It wasn't Matsumoto," Kensei said finally, his voice quiet and oddly soothing. "When Hachi called and told us what had happened, Mashiro and I went down there to investigate."

Even without her glasses, Lisa could make out Mashiro bobbing her head in excited agreement with Kensei.

"How can you be sure?" Love asked.

"Because we pulled it out of the hole it was stuck in," He said. "And it was in a pretty sorry state, let me tell you that."

"The water made it all puffy!" Mashiro added.

"If it was water damaged, then how can you be sure it wasn't Matsumoto," Rose asked. "If it'd been there for a few days it might have been beyond recognition. A few days under water and I don't imagine it would look like anyone."

"Water damage wouldn't affect height. This girl was too short to be Matsumoto."

"Her boobies were too small," Mashiro piped up.

Someone sniggered, Lisa couldn't tell who and Kensei grunted his disapproving agrrement.

"I haven't got a clue who this girl was," he admitted. "And I've already taken care of the body, so there'll be no chance of us ever really finding out."

"What'd you do that for?" Love demanded.

"Because it stunk!" Kensei replied loudly. "She'd been dead for a good few days before they dumped her and then it's been under water for who knows how long. You have any idea how bad that the smell was?"

"Yes," Lisa said quietly remembering the horrific stench and the awful taste of the water. "Do you at least have an idea of how she was killed?"

"At a guess I'd say she was beaten to death," he replied. "Both her arms looked to be broken, but one oddly looked like it happened after she was killed. Blunt trauma to the head was probably the actual cause of death –"

"Her head was bashed in."

"- thank you, Mashiro. Really though, her whole left side was nearly destroyed," Kensei continued. "Whoever killed her was a real twisted bastard."

"So it was a wild goose chase, then," Rose said.

"Not entirely," Shinji said. "We know that whoever this girl was she had recently been in contact with Matsumoto, how else would she have the necklace? And whoever hid her body fits the description of the ones who attacked Thirteenth, which is practically confirmation that they were involved in Matsumoto's disappearance."

"Which leads us back to Aizen," Hiyori practically yelled. "Right back to where we started."

Lisa shook her head. "No, we've got a lot more information than they possibly think. More than the Gotei 13 certainly."

"How so?"

"We know that the whole thing was a trap." She didn't need to be able to see them to know that they were all sitting in stunned silence, mouths agape. Lisa made her way to the couch and sat down. The fabric was rough against her ass and bare legs, and she resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably. "The body was a set up. When I exited the building the three girls were waiting for me. One of them said that I wasn't who they were waiting for."

"So?" Hiyori said. "Maybe they thought it was one of their own who'd be there."

"No, it was a trap," Lisa replied. "And it wasn't meant for me."

Shinji chuckled. "Which means that Aizen doesn't plan on stopping with Matsumoto. He's going to take the Gotei 13 apart bit by bit."

"But who was the trap meant for?" Hachi asked.

"I don't know," Lisa admitted.

"Someone who is affiliated with Matsumoto," Hachi said. "One of her friends perhaps or a business associate."

"Someone who is in the Gotei 13," Rose added. "The list is huge."

"It has to be someone that it's worth Aizen taking," said Shinji.

They all went silent as they contemplated this.

"I have a question," Hiyori said after a While. "Why the hell do we care?"

"That is a good question," Love said.

"The Gotei 13 have done us no favours," Rose murmured. "Why do we care that another organisation has cropped up to take them out? It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Do you really think Aizen will stop with the?" Shinji asked. "We'd be next. Or we'd be taken out along with the Gotei 13. He's no friend of ours and we'd be dumb as fuck to think so."

Lisa nodded her agreement. "We shouldn't trust the Gotei 13, but it won't hurt us to help them along the way."

"What about Shihouin?" Kensei asked. "We already know that Aizen has her in mind for something."

""We're not going to stop watching her, we're contractually obliged after all," Shinji answered. "Lisa will keep her position as her assistant and report anything unusual to us. For now, assume Aizen is interested but that he's not making an active move against her. He seems to have other ideas for now."

They all started talking animatedly, making plans and bickering among themselves as was per usual whenever they had to organise anything. Lisa kept her mouth shut though. She leaned back in the couch and closed her eyes. Everything hurt; her back, her ribs, her legs and arms felt heavy and unresponsive, not to mention that her headache was worse.

/\/\/\

The lobby was awash with people; smartly dressed men and women all hurrying to be somewhere. Surprisingly they paid no heed to the lone kid who walked confidently through the open doors and across the lobby.

Toshiro held tightly to the strap of his messenger bag, the only sign that gave away how nervous he felt. He piled himself into an already jam-packed elevator and waited patiently until it stopped at the floor he wanted. HE wasn't surprised to find that much like the rest of the building this floor was also inhabited by people rushing about all over the place.

Straight ahead of him as his destination; a desk set in the very centre of the floor, the reception for this particular department. He briefly wondered how many receptionists or secretaries or whatever worked here. This was the nerve centre of the Shihouin Empire after all, and it would no doubt employ hundreds if not thousands, it made perfect sense that each department would have their own reception team.

He thumped his arms down on the desk top, looking down on the lone young woman working there. Slowly she raised her head, blinking in confusion as she stared at him.

"Sh-Shiro-Chan?"

"Don't call me that," Toshiro said quickly, familiar annoyance washing over him. "I'm a university student now, I think I'm passed the stage where you can call me such childish things."

Momo blinked again. "B-but what are you doing here?"

"Not happy to see me?" He asked, forcing a smile. She looked tired, dark circles were painted under her eyes and her complexion was pale. "You should get more sleep."

"I get enough sleep!" she argued back, standing up and slamming her hands down on the desk. "and I don't need to hear that from you. I know exactly how little sleep the average student gets!"

This time his smile was genuine. "I just thought I drop by to visit you," he said. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"O-Oh..." She trailed off looking suddenly bad. "I'm sorry, Shiro-Chan, I've been really busy lately. I guess I haven't had time to call by and see you."

"Don't worry about it," he waved off her apology dismissively. "I've been pretty busy too. How've you been? I brought you something." While she told him all about the various things she had been up to, he rummaged in his bag for the gifts he had brought her.

Momo laughed, "That's pretty much everything," she concluded. "It's a bit strange living on my own, but I'm managing."

Toshiro lifted his gifts from his bag and dropped them onto the desk. "Ise-San told me to give you this book," He said. "And Grandma sent you some dried peaches."

"Thank you," Momo replied, smiling warmly and picking up the book to look at it. "Did you come all this way just to drop these off?"

"Sorta." He shrugged. "And to check up on how you are. This is a pretty demanding job, I wanted to make sure you could handle it."

Her eyes went wide. "Of course I can handle it! If I couldn't then they wouldn't have given me the job in the first place!"

He was fairly sure that she could handle it and he wished her all the best in her new job, especially with the way she had lost her last job with the Gotei 13. She had been lucky that Shihouin Masaru had taken note of who she was and recognised her abilities. It still shocked him that the Gotei 13 had seemed content to cut all ties to her. It hadn't been her fault after all that Aizen had defected and started his own rival company. And then there was Rangiku's disappearance to consider, she and Momo had been good friends after all.

"I also," he started, trying to look perfectly innocent, "wanted to ask you a favour."

She seemed to be engrossed in reading the back of the book Ise had leant her and just nodded absently. "Anything," She mumbled.

"I need to find the address of someone in Tokyo and I was wondering if you could perhaps look through the database here and see if they show up."

She froze, her brow furrowed as she stared at the book. Slowly she lowered the book and transferred her intense stare to him. "You need to find someone?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I ahve the name and I think it's their surname, but I;m not too sure."

"Toshiro, I don't know," she said quietly, looking uncertain. "What makes you think that they'd be on the database here? I mean, unless they're employed here then I doubt that they would be."

He gave her a sceptical look. "They would be. The Shihouin Corporation had its sticky fingers in nearly every business in Tokyo," He said, trying to keep an easy smile on his face. He really didn't want her to know how tense he was feeling. "Hotels, taxi services, shops, the airport," He ticked them off on his fingers as he spoke, "Colleges, High schools, there isn't anywhere in this city that doesn't have at least something to do with this place. If someone has stayed at a hotel or travelled, used their bank card, then you can guarantee that this place will have them on record." He really hoped that he was right.

She placed the book gently down on the desk. "Why do you want this?" She asked quietly. "Shiro-Chan, are you in trouble?"

"No, no," He tried to sound confident and soothing all at once, but his voice had hitched and he had sounded like a guilt-ridden child instead. He cleared his throat. "I'm not in any trouble. I just want to know this persons full name and preferably they're address."

"What makes you think I have access to these files?"

"Because you're an intelligent and resourceful young woman?" That really shouldn't have been a question, and he felt himself cringe. "Please Momo? I don't ask for a lot."

She took a moment, her eyes searching him as though she could pick his thoughts straight out from his head. Finally she sighed, and turned to her computer. "I'll see what I can do," she said. "But I'm not promising anything. And it might take me some time. I'm not supposed to have access to these files."

He grinned at her."Thank you Momo, I owe you one."

"You owe me more than one for this," she replied, her lips hitching into a smile. "What's the name?"

He leant over the desk and put his lips near her ear, whispering, "Harribel."

She lurched back from him. "Harribel?" Her eye shad gone wide. "Tia Harribel?"

It was his turn to look at her in shock. "You know her?"

"Uh, no, but I've heard the name," She said. Her hands started fidgeting with the book he had brought her. "I'll look her up, see if I can find anything for you."

"Right," He stepped back from her. Was she keeping something form him?

She turned back to her computer and started tapping away furiously at the keyboard. "Thank you for bringing me the presents, Shiro-Chan," She said, "And for visiting me. If I find anything out, I'll call you straight away."

It was a dismissal and he knew it. He felt perturbed. How the hell had she known that name? "Good-bye, Momo," he said turning from her, almost sadly. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut. He wasn't looking where he was going and almost ran into someone. He stumbled and mumbled an apology before trying to make his escape. Whoever it was swore at him loudly, but he ignored them. He couldn't shake off the look in Momo's eyes when he had mentioned Harribel's name. Something was very wrong here.

* * *

**Just so you all know, this chapter was a pain in the arse to write. I fully expect the next few chapters to be equally as painful as well.**

**Thank you for reading, reviews are very welcome, and once again my apologies for the tragically long wait for this. I feel a little bad because there was no YoruSoi, and I feel even worse because there won't be for quite some time.**

**All mistakes are my own and there are probably a fair few since I haven't actually proof read the last part.  
**

_**Half-Empty Bottle **_**by AFI**


	33. Start Swimming

**Big thanks to siyentista! Without her help this chapter probably would have taken a lot longer to write.**

**And sorry for the wait, it can be blamed on my colossal incompetence.**

**

* * *

**

Start Swimming

It wasn't cold outside, quite the opposite; summer was fast approaching and the city felt warm, not even the occasional late spring rain cooled the air, but Harribel pulled on her coat regardless. The coat was like armour, thick and protective, without it she felt naked and exposed to more than just the elements. It fell past her waist and covered the knife that she had holstered to the back of her belt. The collar was large and when she zipped the coat all the way up, it hid half her face, which was just the how she liked it.

She moved across her small apartment, stepping over the various boxes that were scattered around the place. She rarely spent large amounts of time within her apartment and subsequently had never bothered to unpack.

Atop one of the boxes were her keys, her lighter and her cigarettes. She pocketed her lighter and picked up the packet of cigarettes, giving it a quick shake before opening it. She only had four left, she would have to buy some more on her way to Hueco Mundo. She slipped them into her coat pocket and then grabbed her keys.

Turning around she looked to Apache. The younger girl was perched on the arm of the old tatty couch, one of the few pieces of furniture in the apartment. She had her arms crossed across tightly across her chest and was staring furiously at her own feet. Harribel sighed, but refrained from making any moves to comfort her. Instead she waited patiently for Apache to raise her head and look to Harribel. There was anger in her mismatched eyes, and her mouth twisted as she regarded Harribel.

Harribel understood; she felt the anger too, but she knew better than to let it show. Sun-Sun was still in hospital, injured by that woman, and Mila-Rose, though not as gravely injured, was confined to her bed to recuperate.

"We will make her pay for what she has done," Harribel promised.

Apache nodded once, sharply. She was tired of waiting, she wanted revenge and she wanted it now. The girl had no patience and for once Harribel was glad for it. The temptation was there for Harribel to rush into this, to find that woman and exact he own brand of revenge for what she had done. There were so many other factors to consider though, not just her and her girls, there were outside factors that could make it fatal for Harribel to put a foot wrong. She didn't know enough to make the move she wanted to.

Apache's visible lack of patience reminded Harribel that now, more than ever, she needed keep her calm. She couldn't rush into anything yet; she had to think, to consider the consequences and weigh up whether they would be worth her actions.

They moved from the apartment, Apache walking behind Harribel. The clouds above were thick and grey, providing the perfect insulation for the heat from the city. Harribel pulled her cigarettes from her pocket and snatched one out of the pack, placing it to her lips. She ran her thumb over the engraving on her lighter before lighting her cigarette.

"Can I have one?" Apache asked.

"I only have three left," Harribel answered quietly, her voice muffled by the cylinder balanced on her lips.

Apache grunted her understanding and didn't ask again. It was unusual for Apache to be this quiet. Usually she was the noisiest of the three girls, and silencing her was quite a feat. Perhaps she needed the other two to play off of and without them she felt unsure of herself. Her sullen silence was unnerving.

Harribel walked ahead of her, one hand stuffed in her pocket, the other holding her cigarettes to her lips. Despite Apache's foul mood, she found herself relaxing to the sounds of the city waking up around her.

/\/\/\

Nanao stared at the open book in her lap. Momo had lent it to her months ago and she was only just now finally getting around to reading it. She and Momo often did this, swap books with each other, and then they would spend hours discussing the books. They had done it for years now, and it had become an ingrained habit that Nanao knew they would never break. Not that she wanted to end this little hobby of theirs. Momo was one of the few people Nanao knew who shared her passion for literature.

She was having a bit of difficulty getting into this book, though Momo had insisted that it was one of the best she had read. It was some sort of thriller, with a suitably handsome detective solving some sort of ridiculous crime involving the Yakuza, and no doubt he would get embroiled in a steamy affair with the _Oyabun's _daughter. It was just the sort of thing that Nanao loved to read but professed to hate. If anyone asked, then her favourites were the classics.

She had only just started reading it this morning while having breakfast, and she had bought it with her to the meeting. She knew that these things could, and usually would, last for hours (a room full of old men were absolutely incapable of coming to even the most insignificant of decisions without hours of discussion and much tea drinking), so it was always advisable to bring some form of light entertainment.

Frowning, she stared at the page, reading over the top line again. No matter how many times she tried, the words were just not sinking in. She couldn't concentrate. It was infuriating to have a good book ripe for reading in her hands and to be unable to actually enjoy it.

Sighing in defeat, she snapped the book closed. Slowly she raised her head to stare at one of the reasons he was finding it so difficult to concentrate. There was another person in the room, here for the exact same reason she was.

Across from her, and leaning against the wall in a manner that suggested she was attempting to be part of the rooms furnishings, was one Fon Shaolin. Or Soi. Or Soifon. Nanao didn't know or care to remember exactly what name the young woman went by these days. All that mattered at this precise moment was that she was here and that she made Nanao feel distinctly uncomfortable. She had always made Nanao uncomfortable; there was something ever so slightly sinister to her quiet ways. The way she looked at you suggested that she was thinking of the best possible way to kill you. She could disarm you with a single glance. She made Nanao feel weak and helpless. And Nanao did not like feeling weak or helpless.

There were, of course, other reasons why she made Nanao feel uncomfortable, but they were probably best not looked into too deeply. Sometimes Nanao worried that Soi didn't just disarm and kill you with a single glance, but occasionally undressed you for the benefit of her mind theatre.

Shihouin Yoruichi, who until recently had been Soi's arguably better half, definitely made Nanao feel uncomfortable. And she and Soi together made Nanao surpass uncomfortable to someplace between mortification and anguish. You weren't supposed to stare, it was rude and Nanao always liked to show proper manners, but they had made it nigh on impossible not to stare. Their interactions had been fascinating in the worst possibly ways, and a small part of Nanao would have loved to have been a fly-on-the-wall to their daily lives.

Nanao froze as she realised Soi was staring right back her. Those steely grey eyes locked onto hers and the woman smirked. Nanao blushed and looked away. She had no idea what that look had meant, it had been vaguely suggestive and might have meant that Soi had just killed her in a ruthlessly efficient manner in her head or it could be saying: "You and I just had sex in my head, and it was good!"

So long as it was good, then it wasn't so bad, but still!

Nanao felt slightly outraged. She coughed into her hand in an attempt to hide her embarrassment and raised her head once more to look at Soi. She was still staring, still smirking at Nanao and she still had that suggestive look, a single thin eyebrow raised in a mocking manner.

"You don't say much, do you?" Nanao said, more to break the uncomfortable silence than anything else.

"Neither do you," Soi replied.

"I dislike wasting words," Nanao said.

"Same here," Soi said, lips twitching slightly.

What did that look mean? Nanao considered herself good at reading people, but she couldn't even grasp the barest hint of what Soi was thinking. She was quiet, Nanao had once thought shy but she was reconsidering that now. Her silence seemed more sinister and thoughtful now. She had an air of disdain around her as though she didn't think the people around her were worthy of her time or efforts. Arrogance then, Nanao decided. She could see that, the conceit in her steely eyes.

It didn't help that recently Soi had revealed that she had been working for Shihouin Masaru. Apparently she was quite the actress. She and Yoruichi had at least a couple of years' worth of history, and it had been nothing but deceit. When Nanao had heard, she had actually found herself feeling sorry for Yoruichi. She didn't ever want to know what it felt like find out that someone you loved turned out to not be who they said they were. It took a cold person to deceive someone like that.

Of course there were those who said that Yoruichi had got exactly what she deserved. Nanao was a little unsure if anyone deserved to have their heart broken.

She was starting to sound melodramatic and was thankful when the door opened, hopefully signalling the end of the meeting. She picked up her book and stood up, readying herself for Shunsui. Opposite her, Soi straightened up, her focus also on the freshly opened door. A steady stream of old men shuffled out, followed by a few who were much younger. Nanao recognised Kuchiki Byakuya and she nodded a greeting to him as he sauntered past.

The crowd thinned and made their way from the building. Nanao frowned and looked to the still open door. _Where is he? _She wondered. There was always the chance that he had snuck out, hidden among the other men. Soi was still here too, but she didn't look at all concerned, more annoyed than anything else.

Finally, the wrinkled form of Shihouin Masaru tottered from the room. He was looking old. The last couple of years had aged him horribly. Nanao could remember when she'd first seen him and he'd looked half his age and fitter than most men thirty years his junior.

Soi stood a little bit straighter when he approached and held out her hand to take the folder he was carrying. He handed it over and thanked her, which surprised Nanao. She had figured that he'd treat Soi more like a servant that was too far beneath him to bother with simple courtesy.

From behind him came Ukitake and Shunsui. Nanao rolled her eyes. She should have known that they'd be last out.

She made her way over to them. "How did it go?" She asked.

"It was interesting," Ukitake said. He had his long white hair tied neatly back, and was dressed smartly in a green shirt and black trousers.

"It was boring," Shunsui said. His hair was tied back too, with three pin-wheel hair-pins sticking out of it. Like Ukitake he had also made an effort with his appearance, but the fact that he had neglected to button his pink shirt all of the way up and she could clearly see his chest negated the effort. One day she was going to have to inform him that he was just too old to be walking about with his chest out.

"I'm sure it wasn't," Nanao chided him. "It was necessary and no doubt very informative. You didn't fall asleep again, did you?"

"Of course not," He said cheerfully.

She turned to Ukitake. "Did he?"

"He might have dozed for a bit," Ukitake said, smiling fondly at Shunsui.

"Traitor," Shunsui muttered to Ukitake. "The lies you tell my Nanao-Chan to turn her against me!"

Ukitake turned to Nanao. "I would never lie to you, Ise-San."

"I know you wouldn't, Ukitake-San," she replied, barely hiding her smile. Sometimes it was very easy to get caught up in these two's antics. "You though," she jabbed her finger at Shunsui, "you promised me that you wouldn't fall asleep in this meeting. You said that you'd never do it again."

"Jushiro, you've got me in trouble with Nanao-Chan," Shunsui said. "What if she kicks me out? I'll have to sleep with you instead."

Ukitake smiled. "I think I could handle that."

"Okay, but you know that I'm a spooner," he said seriously, "and in my experience, spooning leads to fork – ouch!"

Nanao hit him with her book to shut him up. "Don't be obscene!" She yelled, feeling her face heat up in a furious blush. She hit him twice more for good measure.

"You're always so mean, Nanao-Chan…"

She ended her assault on him and furiously rearranged her glasses. Honestly, he always had to take the joke that step too far.

A few steps away from them, Shihouin Masaru regarded them with an amused glint in his golden eyes. As soon as Nanao realised that he'd witnessed the whole exchange she felt her face heat up in embarrassment all over again. To have such an important person see their childish antics was beyond mortifying. Why had she let herself get caught up in them?

"You agree with me, don't you Masaru-San? The meeting was very boring," Shunsui said.

"I find myself unable to disagree," Masaru said. His voice was like velvet and Nanao felt sure that she could have listened to him speak for hours. "That's the trouble with having a group of old men locked in a room together." He sighed theatrically. "It seems to take us an inordinate amount of time to come to any kind of decisions. And don't get me started on the chairs! How you managed to sleep in one will amaze me for years to come, Kyoraku-San."

"See, Nanao-Chan. Even the head of the Shihouin Empire agrees with me," Shunsui didn't quite smirk, but he was close. His eyes moved from Masaru and lit up when they landed on Soi. "Oh, and Soi-Chan's here too!"

Soi still stood behind Masaru, holding the folder and looking completely uninterested in what was happening around her. When Shunsui said her name, her lip curled in annoyance and disgust. To Nanao's horror Shunsui made his way towards the Chinese woman with his arms held wide, as though he was actually going to hug her.

Soi shifted sideways on, her whole body tensed and she brought an arm up to stop Shunsui from his intended action. He went in for the hug anyway. His efforts were vaguely comic, even if Nanao was feeling appalled. Shunsui was over a foot taller than Soi, and the spectre of his bright pink figure looming over Soi and trying to pull her in for an embrace as she desperately tried to evade him was something that should have been filmed.

"Get off me!" Soi bellowed.

"I was so sorry to hear about you and Yoruichi," Shunsui said. He grabbed Soi's arm and pulled her in, finally succeeding in hugging her. "It's okay to cry, let it all out. To think, I wanted to be best man at your wedding!"

Nanao groaned. What was Shunsui thinking? And in front of Masaru too, who had always made it very clear what he thought of his daughter's preferences.

Suddenly Shunsui's head snapped back and Nanao heard a crack. He staggered, his hand going to his chin. This was followed by a hollow thump, and this time Shunsui stumbled and would have fallen if Ukitake hadn't caught him.

Nanao looked from him and then over to Soi. She stood rigidly, her face red and her eyes hard, her hand still held out in front of her. She had hit him, Nanao realised. Soi brought her fist back and calmly straightened her jacket. The folder she had been carrying lay on the floor by her feet and she stooped to retrieve it.

"I am told that she packs quite a punch," Masaru said. He graced Shunsui with a smile. "How was it for you?"

Shunsui rubbed at his chin with one hand, the other was clutched tightly to his sternum. "Easily one of the… better ones I've had," he said wheezing slightly. He was smiling though and his eyes were twinkling with good humour, so the hit couldn't have hurt him that much. His gaze was focussed on Soi and she was staring back at him just as intently.

"W-we should be leaving," Nanao said, not wanting this to be drawn out any further. She didn't like that way Soi was looking at Shunsui. She was definitely killing him in her head right now. "We have places to be."

"Of course," Shunsui said. "It was lovely to see you again, Soi-Chan."

Nanao took his arm and guided him from the room. She could feel Soi's cold eyes on their backs as they left and she shivered.

/\/\/\

As expected Hueco Mundo was next to empty and Harribel resisted the urge to sigh in annoyance. Why was it that she was the only one who ever turned up to work on time?

"Where is everybody?" Apache demanded loudly from behind her. "This place looks like shit!"

Surveying the club, Harribel couldn't help but silently agree. The bar staff last night had clearly put in the minimum required effort in clearing up; the meagre few tables were buried beneath piles of empty bottles and glasses, the floor was littered too with abandoned drinks and no one had made any effort to clean up any of the spillages that had occurred.

"Who was in charge last night?" Harribel enquired.

Apache shrugged and then crossed the room. She vaulted over the bar top and disappeared from view as she exited through a side door for a moment. When she reappeared she looked more annoyed than ever.

"It was Starrk!" She yelled across the bar.

"That explains a lot," Harribel muttered under her breath. She followed Apache's path across the room, kicking an empty bottle as she did so, and stopped at the bar. At least he had had the good sense to clear up behind there. And if it was Starrk then there was a high chance that he was still in the building. "Apache," Harribel said, "Make a start on clearing up."

Apache looked furious. "What?" She screeched. "That's not my job, that's a job for the cleaners."

"Now Apache." Harribel walked from the bar and towards the stairs that led to the private bar, behind her she could hear Apache grumbling but she could also hear the sounds of her beginning to clear up.

At the top of the narrow staircase, there were two doors; one led to the private bar and the other to the small office of Hueco Mundo. As far as Harribel knew it was rarely used and was mostly for decorative purposes. You were more likely to find Tousen in there than Aizen, and Harribel avoided Tousen when she could. Something about that man set her on edge.

She turned left and opened the door to the private bar, Las Noches. It was a small, circular room that overlooked the rest of the club. Anyone sitting up here could watch what was happening below through the large windows. There were stools set at the bar, but only one table was set in the room. Harribel crossed over to the table and looked to the long seats that ran parallel to it. She wasn't at all surprised to find Starrk lying on his back, sound asleep.

He had one arm flung across his face; the other fell down between the table and seat, his fingers trailing on the ground. Both his feet were propped up on the seat, his legs bent at the knees. His mouth was open in a silent snore.

Harribel leaned over him and stared hard and a flare of annoyance sparked in her. His laziness was something else entirely; he had left most of the work for her to do and he just lay there sleeping as though he didn't have a single trouble in the world?

She raised her hand and held it poised above his open mouth, her fingers pointed down like a spike waiting to drop. She had seen Lilynette wake him numerous times in a similar fashion, and from it Harribel knew that it was a guaranteed method of waking the man. She hesitated though. As far as she was aware, Starrk wasn't known for his temper, certainly she had never seen him react to Lilynette's continued assaults on him with anger, but that didn't meant that she would be greeted with the same.

She retracted her hand. She didn't know Starrk well enough to risk angering him. Instead she settled for slapping him across the jaw. His head lolled and he let out an almighty snort, but he didn't wake up. He smacked his lips together and shifted in his sleep, before settling back down, his snores far more audible this time.

Harribel sighed. Clearly it would take more to wake him up. She went to the bar and grabbed a glass, filling it with water from the tap. Sometimes the old methods were the best. Returning to Starrk she upturned the glass, spilling the water across his face.

He bolted up, nearly falling from the seat. "Wha- what?" he spluttered, looking around him with wide eyes. When they settled on Harribel his expression relaxed, but he still looked surprised. "What was that for?"

"You wouldn't wake up," she replied calmly. "I thought perhaps you were in a coma."

He thought on this a moment and then shrugged, relaxing back into the seat. His long hair clung wetly to his narrow face, and water dripped from his chin and nose. He didn't seem to care though.

"Why are you still here?" Harribel asked.

He shrugged, rubbing at the side of his head with a hand. "I don't know. I was tired."

He was hopeless and Harribel had to fight from telling him so. Apart from his one, admittedly exceptional, talent, what did he bring to this little group that Aizen had gathered?

What did any of them bring? They were certainly a mismatched bunch; thieves and thugs, extortionists and killers, they were lowest of scum, the antithesis to those that the Gotei 13 had gathered. It was as though Aizen had intentionally gathered up a subpar version, a mockery to the ideals the Gotei 13 pretended to hold. She wondered what exactly Aizen hoped to achieve with his mock organisation.

Starrk yawned. "What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice slurred slightly by sleep.

"I'm opening up," Harribel replied. "And I'm clearing up behind your mess."

Starrk didn't react to her words. His eyes were bleary and Harribel wondered if he would actually go back to sleep, he certainly looked like he was considering it.

"Does this mean you left Lilynette on her own last night?"

"She can look after herself. She doesn't need me to watch over her."

And this was what set her and Starrk apart from the rest of the scum here. He had Lilynette and she had her girls. They both had something to lose. That simple fact made her want to trust him. She wasn't naïve enough to think that she actually could trust him though. After all, Aizen hadn't sought him out for his fathering skills.

It was warm in the small room, and she unzipped her coat, letting it fall open. She couldn't help but notice the way Starrk's eyes flickered quickly over her body before looking away. She nearly smirked at that, his laziness didn't appear to get in the way of certain desires.

"Don't suppose you have any smokes?"

Silently, she pulled out her cigarettes and offered the packet to him. "As a matter of fact, I do," she said, "do you need a light?"

He nodded, slipping a single cigarette out of the packet and holding it between his long fingers. She handed him her lighter too and he brought the cigarette to his lips. Just like everyone, he inspected the lighter briefly before using it.

"It suits you," he said handing the lighter back.

"I know." She only had two cigarettes left and she decided she wanted to save them. She tucked the packet and her lighter back in her pocket and then sat down on the table, her eyes watching Starrk keenly. He appeared to be enjoying the cigarette, pinching the butt between finger and thumb, the smallest of smiles on his thin lips.

"How is Lilynette?" She asked.

Starrk raised his eyes to hers. "She's fine."

Harribel nodded. "I haven't seen her in a while."

"This isn't exactly the kind of place that you bring a kid."

While that was true, it had never stopped Starrk in the past, and Harribel wondered what could have happened to change his mind.

"What is Lilynette to you?" Harribel wondered aloud. "Your little sister? I suppose that she could be your daughter."

Starrk's expression didn't betray anything. "What are those girls to you?" he quietly countered. "Unless you look real good for your age, then you're certainly not their mother."

She may as well have been their mother; she was easily the closest thing they had to one, she had been the one to look out for them, to practically raise them. She didn't think that she could ever accurately explain to anyone the bond she shared with Apache, Mila-Rose and Sun-sun, certainly not in a way that they'd be able to understand.

A little bit of her wondered if Starrk would be able to understand. Was his bond with Lilynette similar to her own with Apache, Mila-Rose and Sun-sun?

"Maybe you're like Barragan and his boys club," Starrk mumbled.

Anger flared up in Harribel at his words and she gripped the sides of the table in her hands. She glared at Starrk, barely restraining herself. He ignored her anger though and carried on smoking, calmly.

"Interesting," he said quietly. He pinched his cigarette between his thumb and finger and plucked it from his mouth, a wisp of smoke billowing out from his pursed lips. "I didn't expect you to react like that. You're just full of surprises."

Harribel forced herself to relax. It would do her no good to get worked up. Besides, Starrk was not the one she was truly angry at. She thought that perhaps Starrk was one of the few here that she could actually trust, probably the only one. He was like her and that made her want to trust him. What did the others have to lose; money? Pride? Their lives? She and Starrk stood to lose so much more. She wanted to trust him, she really did, but she couldn't.

The sound of apache hurrying up the stairs interrupted Harribel's thought. Turning, she watched as an out of breath Apache burst into the room.

"Apache, what is it?" Harribel asked.

Apache took several deep breaths before answering. "He's here," she gasped. "Aizen-Sama's here."

/\/\/\

After the meeting they had gone for lunch. Shunsui had decided that he was hungry and then Ukitake had declared that a cup of tea was in order. Nanao couldn't think of any reason for them not to go for lunch, and had trailed behind the two men as they discussed trivial matters.

She had never been in the café that they were currently sitting in, though she had heard of it. Within the Gotei 13 it had a colourful reputation to go along with its equally colourful interior. Whoever had designed the place had an odd sense of humour that bordered on the grotesque. Either that or they had spent far too much time with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. It was perhaps because of the somewhat questionable history of the place that Nanao felt uncomfortable within the establishment, but for now she was happy to blame it on the psychedelic décor.

Nanao placed her teacup down gently and tried to ignore the way it clashed horribly with the acid green plastic table. Next to her Shunsui was busy enjoying a sandwich while opposite him Ukitake was cradling a cup of green tea between his long fingered hands. Since ordering their food and drinks no one had said a word. Nanao wondered at the silence and what it meant. It was rare for these two to stay quiet for long when they were together, especially after such an important meeting. The silence was tense and unnerving.

Nanao coughed delicately into her hand. Neither Ukitake nor Shunsui reacted to her feeble attempt at breaking the silence. She had realised some time ago but was only now admitting to herself that both of them were waiting for her to leave before they discussed something. She was in the way. It wasn't unusual for Shunsui to keep things from Nanao, he did on a daily business, but he usually found ways to "accidently" let her in on what was going on. This time though she felt as though she was going to be kept completely in the dark.

It was infuriating and disheartening, and she had to remind herself that he wasn't doing it because he didn't trust her. He was trying to protect her. The thought wasn't comforting. She now needed to work out exactly what he was trying to protect her from and she also needed to ascertain if he was in danger himself.

The first move to make was to let the two boys play their little game. She stood up and stepped from the table. Both Shunsui and Ukitake looked up.

"Is something the matter, Ise-San?" Ukitake asked politely.

"No, nothing at all," She said with a smile. "I'm just going to the bathroom." She looked about the café, not actually knowing where the bathroom was.

"It's just over that way," Shunsui said, pointing across the small room. "It's tucked around that corner there."

"Thank you." She walked from the table and across the café, her heels clacking against the polished floor. True to her word, she walked down the narrow passage to the ladies room and entered. She didn't need to go, but she could waste several minutes here, giving Shunsui time to explain to Ukitake about whatever was on his mind.

Moving to the lone sink she turned on the tap and held her hands under the cool water. The mirror above the sink was cracked. It looked as though something had been smashed into it, a single point of violence with long lines splintering up the reflective surface. Given the secondary purpose of the café, Nanao didn't want to know exactly how the mirror had been broken. She did, however, make a mental note to have it replaced.

She turned the tap off and stepped back, flicking the excess water from her hands. Something must have happened in the meeting, she decided. She wasn't one hundred percent sure exactly what had been discussed, but she could take a guess: Aizen. And more importantly to her: Matsumoto Rangiku's disappearance.

Nanao had known Rangiku for years, and she knew fine well that the woman wasn't half as ditzy as she pretended to be. She certainly wasn't irresponsible enough to put herself in danger. Be late for work? Rangiku had done that daily, it was nothing new. Disappear without a trace? That was worrying and completely out of character for Rangiku. Something had happened to her, Nanao knew it, and Shunsui knew it and they had both tried to make sure that the Gotei 13 knew it too.

Their attempts had seemingly been in vain. Rangiku's disappearance hadn't been considered important enough to warrant the Gotei 13's full involvement. She was a minor player in the game here, and her importance paled in significance to other members and clients of the Gotei 13. Why would they waste time trying to find one person when influential people like Shihouin Masaru were busy kicking up a fuss about the safety of his daughter and sole heir?

This wasn't to say that Nanao had given up on her friend though. She knew that Shunsui hadn't either and Nanao trusted him, he was working on something, she knew it. He had to be. And once he had everything worked out he would share it with her. She just hoped that it wouldn't be too late, and that there was a possibility of them saving Rangiku.

She turned back to the door and counted to sixty in her head. Deciding that she'd probably given them enough time to discuss what was on their minds; Nanao opened the door and stepped out. The café was unusually quiet and Nanao slowly crept up the passage. She stopped at the end of the passage and peeked round the corner.

Both Shunsui and Ukitake were gone.

/\/\/\

Harribel had sent Apache away. She had told her to go see to Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun, to check on them and make sure they were alright. Harribel most certainly did not want Apache present to witness whatever was going to happen next.

She followed behind Aizen, being careful to keep a respectful distance between them both. It was difficult; Aizen favoured a slower pace than she was used to, and she had to concentrate to match her strides to his. They had left Starrk behind, and Harribel supposed that he probably would have left while he had the chance. She didn't blame him. If their positions had been reversed she would have left as well.

They entered the small office and Harribel paused as the door swung closed behind her. Tousen was already here, standing just behind the desk. She wasn't at all surprised to see him here. She was, however, surprised to find that Ichimaru wasn't here. He was more Aizen's shadow than Tousen was. Aizen took a seat behind the desk, and rested one elbow atop it, he placed his chain in his open hand and he smiled faintly at Harribel.

"Sit."

She did as she was told. Aizen had one of those deep commanding voices that you felt compelled to obey, even if every fibre of our being objected to doing so.

"How may I serve you, Aizen-Sama?" She asked, keeping her voice respectfully low.

His lips twitched, and his smile threatened to widen with the movement. "It isn't how you may help me, but how I can help you."

She found it difficult to keep the confusion from her face. She wasn't fool enough to assume that Aizen was just going to hand out favours. She shifted in her seat, crossing her legs and refusing to take her eyes from Aizen's. "I wasn't aware that I required help."

"Few who need help are aware that they need it," Aizen said. "And even if they are aware, they refuse to ask for it. Their pride demands that they solve their problem themselves. But wouldn't it just be easier if there was someone who could help them? Who was willing to offer that helping hand?"

She felt confused. She didn't understand what he was trying to say. Her eyes flickered briefly to Tousen, just to see if he looked as confused as she felt. The man stood still and silent behind Aizen though, his expression not betraying his thoughts.

"How are Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun?" Aizen asked.

Harribel's eyes widened. How could he possibly know about them? She hadn't told him that they'd been injured. She didn't want him to see her own failure as theirs.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't find out?" He leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped in his lap as he regarded her smugly. "I asked you to do one simple thing for me. I had others set the whole thing up; all you had to do was to be in the designated place there and apprehend one boy."

"With all due respect Aizen-Sama," Harribel said, trying to keep her voice under control, "We were there. The boy was not. I already explained to Tousen that a woman was instead."

"Yadomaru Lisa."

Harribel stared at him. He knew the woman? And if he knew that, then had he been expecting her to turn up? Had this all been some sort of setup that was beyond Harribel's grasp? A test perhaps. And if it was a test, then had she failed it?

"I find it strange," Aizen continued, "that you were thwarted by one woman."

Harribel found it strange too. She had been too focussed on protecting her girls to even consider taking this Yadomaru instead.

"No matter." Aizen shrugged and leaned his head to the side, that faint smile of his still mocking Harribel. "Don't misunderstand me. I still want the boy and also now Yadomaru, but they will wait for now. You are forgiven for your error."

Harribel exhaled. She hadn't actually realised that she'd been holding her breath for nearly the entirety of the meeting. "That is kind of you, sir."

"Kindness had nothing to do with it."

"Of course not."

Aizen made an amused noise. "And now," he said leaning forward and resting his forearm on the desk, "we get to how I can help you."

Harribel nodded. Now they got to business, and whatever it was that Aizen suggested she would have to go along with, she would have to complete. She needed to draw his attention away from Apache, Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun at all costs.

"Aizen-Sama, would it be alright if I smoked?"

He flicked a finger towards Tousen, who immediately moved closer to Harribel and provided her with an ashtray that she had to balance on her knees. Without speaking, Tousen moved to stand behind Aizen once more.

Harribel opened that crumpled box of cigarettes and pulled one out, placing it to her lips. There would only be one left after this. She had forgotten to buy more on her way here. She lit her cigarette and tucked her lighter and the near-empty packet back inside her coat.

"Are you ready to hear what I want from you?"

Harribel nodded. "I am Aizen-Sama."

The smoke burned her throat as she inhaled.

/\/\/\

Nanao shifted on the couch, drawing her legs up close to her. Once again she was attempting to read that damned book and once more she was failing miserably. This time though it wasn't the presence of another that disturbed her read. Shunsui still had not returned from wherever he and Ukitake had disappeared off to. While it wasn't unusual for the pair of them to go off together, it was unusual for Shunsui to not inform her of where they were going. At the very least he would usually call in and reassure her that he was alright.

Sighing in defeat, Nanao chucked the book away from her. It landed on the matching armchair and its dark cover stood out from the off-cream colour of the chair. It was mocking her, and once she stopped her mind from whirring with anxious though she was going to read the hell out of that book. Standing, she tightened her robe about herself. Not even a bath had helped with relaxing her nerves.

_Where is he?_

She crossed the small apartment and made her way into the kitchen. It was the tiny, and she was boxed in on all sides by benches, the fridge and a small inefficient oven. The lino was cold beneath her bare feet and she stood up on her tip toes in an effort to minimise contact. She opened the fridge, pulled out a bottle of dry white wine and set it on the counter. It was half-empty, she and Shunsui had started drinking it the other night. She retrieved a glass from one of the cupboards and poured a generous amount of wine into it. She sipped the wine before replacing the bottle back in the fridge. She made a metal note that she was nearly out of milk.

She walked from the kitchen and back into her moderately sized living room. The lights were turned down low and the room was bathed in shadows, which was just how she liked it. Nanao placed her glass down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. She removed her glasses and set then by the glass, and then she unclipped her hair, letting it fall about her shoulders. She tossed the hairclip onto the table where it clattered noisily across the top.

Nanao took a moment to massage her fingertips into her scalp. Usually she would find the motion relaxing, but tonight it wasn't having the desired effect, probably because it was an action that she associated in her mind with Shunsui. She dropped her hands from her head and laid them in her lap, staring at them.

He had never, not in all the years she known him, left her worrying like this. She didn't know what to make of it. She knew for certain that when he did finally get in touch for her, he was in for the worst telling off she had ever given him.

She snatched the glass of wine from the table and took a swig before slamming it back down. She flumped into the couch and folded her arms crossly across her chest.

_Idiot! _She thought viciously. She rolled over and pressed her face close to the back of the couch and closed her eyes.

/\/\/\

She must have fallen asleep. She didn't know for how long though. The room was still shrouded in half-darkness, made blurry by her lack of glasses. She rubbed at her eyes with her hand and rolled onto her back. She paused, keeping her hand over her eyes, and suddenly aware of a presence looming over her. She smiled softly, already knowing who it was without even looking.

A rough hand closed over hers and she felt him sit down on the couch next to her. "Nanao-Chan," Shunsui said softly.

She forced her features into a frown on disapproval. "Jerk."

He chuckled. "I guess I deserved that."

It was pointless to berate him for worrying her. He already knew that he had and he was already sorry for it. It was unfortunately something he had had to do. He hadn't done it without good reason, she was certain of that; he never did anything without cause and she trusted him. That was the end of it. He had asked her to wait patiently for him and she had, and now...

He brushed the back of his hand against her chin, up her jaw, his bent finger scraping across his lips. He had asked her to be patient, and now he was asking something altogether different from her.

She knocked his hand away and sat up. She held her robe together in one hand and reached for her glasses with the other. Shunsui picked up the glasses and quickly handed them to her. She felt a lot better for having them and she murmured her thanks to him.

His hand returned to her face, gently sliding up her cheek. He ran his fingers through her hair and smiled. "I like it down," he said. "It makes you look more... gentle."

She frowned at that. Perhaps it did make her look more gentle, less severe and strict, things that she knew Shunsui loved, it also made her look different to ... _her_.

"I don't understand," she said. Her voice sounded fragile, which was how she felt, but she didn't want him knowing that. She didn't want to give him anymore reasons to try to protect her.

He sighed and dropped his hand from her face. He sat down next to her and ran a hand over his head. "I didn't mean to worry you," he said, his voice low. "There was some things that I needed to sort out with Jushiro first."

She swallowed and moved closer to him. "Is it anything I can help with?"

He didn't answer straight away. He stared off into the corner of the room and she could almost see the gears and cogs working in his mind as he tried to decide if he would let her in to his and Ukitake's little secret.

"Is it to do with Aizen?" She ventured. It had to be to do with Aizen; everything these days was to do with Aizen. Within the Gotei 13 the man had a monopoly running on gossip.

Shunsui nodded. "Yes," he said, "And others. I'm not sure what I should do Nanao-Chan. I don't know what the right thing to do is."

"Then do the first thing that you think of."

He laughed. "What if it's the wrong thing to do?"

He was starting to scare her. "Then I'll still be here."

He seemed surprised by that. "You will, huh," he sighed once more, deeply and then sank back into the couch. "The thing is..."

"What?"

"Rangiku's alive."

"W-what?" She stared at him. "You're sure? You have proof?"

"I'm almost positive." He scratched at his chin with his finger. "Aizen took her."

"You have proof of this?" Her fear was quickly being over ridden by something like excitement. "You have to tell someone, the Gotei 13 must know."

He was shaking his head. "No, Nanao, no, you don't understand."

She was on her knees, her hands resting on his legs as she leaned in close to him. "But something has to be done. If Aizen was the one who took her, if she's still alive..." She sucked in a sharp breath as she realised exactly what he was getting at. "We can't tell anyone in the Gotei 13... You don't trust them?"

He looked uncomfortable.

"What about me?" She asked. "Was the reason you took so long to tell me because you don't trust me?"

"That's not it," he replied. "Something isn't right within the Gotei 13."

"What?"

"I'm not completely sure yet. I think that Aizen took Matsumoto to distract us from something else. At first we thought it was a simple ransom deal. We'd pay for her release or something like that. But then he made no demands. It was absurd. We knew it was him." He played with the frayed hem of his shirt. Underneath his calm demeanour, she could sense his agitation. "We knew then that he was waiting to see what we would do. Naturally we made a show of looking for her, just to keep certain people happy. The police were paid to keep away; we interviewed some of her friends, nothing serious was done though. Matsumoto's a public figure; it would be unthinkable for us not to do something to find her."

"The press release about her taking a break," Nanao said, "I knew it was to placate the public, but was it really all that the Gotei 13 did?"

"Pretty much," he admitted. "Aizen was goading us, showing our clients that we were unable to look after our own while placing us in a position where we were unable to act."

"I don't understand."

"We're losing business to him. Thankfully, for now, the important families are still supporting us. The Kuchiki's and the Shihouin's, they count for more than numerous smaller clients."

"But, I still don't understand. If the Gotei 13 knows that Aizen has Rangiku, why can't we simply get her back?"

"She's not important enough," Shunsui said. "We have more important clients who are worried for their investments and for their people. Shihouin Masaru has been kicking up the loudest fuss."

"Because Yoruichi is being targeted by Aizen?" Nanao asked. She knew all about what had transpired on New Year's Eve. Aizen had failed in kidnapping Yoruichi, but he had blundered and caused the death of Kaien. It had been a scandal, but one that had blown over given the leak of information that had made its way to the press. That had been the Gotei 13's mistake.

"The thought is that Aizen wants Yoruichi or someone with similar social standing and wealth. That he'll use them to gain money, power, whatever it is that mad men want these days."

"That's not what you think though, is it?"

"The attack on Thirteenth was a farce!" Shunsui stood up suddenly, brushing Nanao off of him. "The men he sent were incompetent. If he'd wanted Yoruichi then he would have taken her. A man like Aizen doesn't make errors like those displayed that night."

"Then what was the point in it? Scare mongering?" She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Was it to make Masaru paranoid? And then what does that have to do with Rangiku and why we can't simply get her back?"

A small, sad smile pulled at his lips. "Because, Nanao-Chan, he's goading us. He wants us to go after Matsumoto, all guns blazing," he explained slowly. "The old man has been in charge for decades and in all that time there has been a lot less..." he mulled about for a suitable word, his head tipping to the side. "Unpleasantness. Oh I'm not going to lie, there's been the occasional accident that resulted in a death or two, but nothing like it used to be. If we go after Aizen we'll give him an excuse to retaliate. And if he retaliates, then we lose the peaceful and safe image we've strived to create. Clients like the Shihouin's might start thinking that their interests would be better protected elsewhere.

"Whatever Aizen does next, we mustn't give him any cause to take things further than it's already gone. It's all fine when it's a lot pushing and shoving with some name calling," Shunsui said in a mock jovial tone. "But when it comes to murder in the streets, that's when we have a problem."

"It's already come to murder though," Nanao said hotly. "What about Kaien? Isn't anything going to be done about that?"

Shunsui shook his head sadly. "His death is seen as a tragic accident. You know that."

"So we can't help Rangiku simply because we're afraid of annoying Aizen? That's absurd!"

"We're afraid of upsetting Masaru, or so I'm told at least." Shunsui sighed. He put his hand into his pocket. "Aizen's plan is working. He's got us questioning ourselves, looking to see which of us isn't who we say we are. If we continue like this, then we'll destroy ourselves from within. No one wants to make the tough decision that might lead to a terrible mistake." He paused somewhat dramatically. "And then there's the question of Masaru."

"What about him?"

From his pocket, Shunsui produced a crumpled up piece of paper. He handed it to Nanao. "A little birdie gave me this today."

Frowning, she took it from him and carefully unfolded it. Her eyes darted across the untidy message that was written there. She didn't gasp, there was no need for such a melodramatic response to what she had just read, but her eyes did widen.

She remembered watching the hand that had passed this to Shunsui. She could see it clearly in her mind now; pressed flat against his chest, pushing him back violently. His hand had closed briefly, for less than a second, over the much smaller hand. It was then that he must have taken the message.

She looked again at the untidy scrawl on the paper:

"_You can't trust Masaru"_

Shunsui chuckled. "Or should I say that a little bee gave it to me."

Nanao stared up at Shunsui. There was too much going on in her head and she was having a hard time figuring it all out. "What does this mean?"

Shunsui shrugged and then he laughed. "I guess it means that Masaru isn't quite the ally we hoped he'd be"

Nanao nodded, still feeling lost. She swallowed. "What do we do?"

"Firstly, and at this precise moment most importantly," he took a deep breath before speaking, his tone serious. "We do _nothing_ to antagonise Aizen."

She certainly agreed to that.

/\/\/\

Harribel walked down the narrow alleyway. It stretched on and on, and she couldn't make out where it actually ended. So far as she could tell, she was currently walking between what would appear to be the longest buildings in Japan. All that seemed to greet her on the horizon was mist, or something equally as vague and unsettling. She walked past trash laid out in the open, dumpsters and piles of old cardboard boxes. Birds picked at the litter and rats scurried just out of view. She had seen two cars so far and she expected to see more. She hated cats; prideful, selfish creatures! She would never understand how anyone could love them.

She froze at the sound of glass breaking. Silently, she reminded herself that she had to be careful; this was unknown territory after all and she couldn't afford to be caught off guard. She waited a moment, listening to the muted sounds of the city, trying to pick out anything abnormal. Satisfied that all was well she continued her trek down the alley.

"_There is someone I would like you to meet with," Aizen said his eyes gleaming._

_Harribel raised her head in interest. "Someone?" She questioned. "An associate?"_

"_Of course."_

Harribel wrinkled her nose. The smell of old and rotting food and other waste was starting to turn her stomach. Why would anyone want to meet here?

"_It's as good a place as any." Aizen rested his chin on his fist as he spoke. His tone was flippant, but Harribel recognised it as a tone that brokered no argument. He looked relaxed, completely in control._

"_Do I at least get a name?"_

Harribel stopped walking. Something wasn't right. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. She could feel a point, somewhere between her shoulder blades that burned. Someone was watching her.

_You'll know him when you see him."_

_Harribel stubbed out her cigarette, grinding it under her thumb. She stood up and handed the ashtray to Tousen. "Very well," she said, straightening out her coat, "I'll go now."_

_Aizen had smiled in satisfaction. She turned from his smug features and took four steps towards the closed door of the office._

"_Tia."_

_Something very akin to disgust washed over her as he spoke her name._

"_Know that we'll be taking the very best care of Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun in your absence."_

Harribel's eyes widened a fraction and she stepped quickly to the side. She felt a whip of air against her head as a fist narrowly missed her. Instinct made her raise her arm in defence, blocking the second strike. She grunted at the force and quick-stepped back, attempting to put some distance between her and her attacker.

Reaching behind her, she gripped the handle of her knife. Her attacker charge just as she slid the blade from its sheath. She slashed at him, the blade whistled as it sliced through the air. He danced and whirled, dodging her swipes as she went on the offensive. He threw his arms up in the air every time she slashed at him, leaving himself momentarily open. She thrust her blade toward his exposed gut. She stumbled as her strike was met with resistance. The scrape of metal against metal screeched, and she watched as her knife collided against his, sliding between a slit in his own blade.

He let out a startled exclamation and she knew that it had been luck that had save him rather than skill. She knew from experience that all too often it was luck rather than skill that won fights.

He turned his knife in his hand, twisting hers and her wrist. She would have held on if he hadn't had the presence of mind to jab her hyper-extended arm. She was over balanced, and her fingers sprang open. She darted back, abandoning her weapon.

She backed up the alley, keeping her eyes trained on her attacker. He was tall and slim to the point of being lanky, with black hair and small eyes. His face was scarred, but it oddly only added to his appeal. She thought that perhaps she had met him before or had at the very least seen him somewhere. It certainly wasn't a face that she was likely to forget.

"You may as well give up," he said. He gripped her knife with his left hand and pointed the blade at her. "You're surrounded."

Did she dare risk looking behind her? He might attack while she was distracted. She could already feel that vulnerable point at the base of her neck start to burn though, and she knew that there was definitely someone behind her. She looked back over her shoulder, quickly. Another young man stood behind her blocking the alley and her only possibly escape route.

She had definitely seen this one before; blonde hair concealed half of his face and he was trembling like a new born lamb. Kira Izuru.

What was going on here? Had Aizen made an error? Had he knowingly sent her into a trap?

"_You'll know him when you see him?"_

She frowned. Could it possibly be that Kira was the one she was meant to meet? But then what of the other one? He was somehow familiar but she couldn't place in her mind where she knew him from.

"Tia Harribel?"

From the shadows of the alley emerged a third assailant. He was short and it took a moment to realise that he was little more than a child. She had never met him, but she knew just by his appearance who he was. Hitsugaya Toshiro. The one she had supposed to find and bring back for Aizen.

It had been a second chance then. She could have corrected her mistake and brought this Hitsugaya to Aizen, and then her girls would have been out of danger. Like last time though, the information she had been supplied with had been dodgy. Aizen had made no mention of there being others with the child, just like he hadn't foreseen the appearance of Yadomaru Lisa last time.

She stayed silent, her eyes trained on the youth as he walked to stand next to the dark haired man.

"I assume that is your name," Hitsugaya said. Anger blazed in his green eyes and there was the smallest twist to his mouth that betrayed his hatred.

She had been set up. This wasn't a chance to redeem herself, this was punishment. Hitsugaya knew that she would be here. He knew that she would be alone and he had made sure to bring back up. Someone, Aizen perhaps, had tipped him off. How else could he have known? The first flare of panic sparked in her. This was punishment for her own failings and she had left Sun-Sun and Mila-Rose alone and unprotected.

"Correct," she answered. She straightened up, refusing to let these boys see her fear. "And who might you be?"

"Hitsugaya Toshiro," he said, and the he pointed to the man at his side, "this is Hisagi Shuuhei. The one behind you is Kira Izuru."

He was so confident in her capture that they had surrendered their names. Of course the only name she hadn't been certain of was Hisagi's, but that was beside the point. They really shouldn't have revealed themselves like that. But then, she shouldn't have either but she still had.

"What do you want with me?" She asked.

"What do you know about Matsumoto Rangiku?"

That hadn't been what Harribel was expecting at all. It had been so long since anyone had mentioned that woman's name that Harribel had almost forgotten about her.

"Nothing," she replied.

"You're lying!" Hisagi growled.

She didn't say anything. Her silence, she knew, was more incriminating than any lie she could have spun.

Her mind was whirring with thoughts. Something wasn't right here. It wasn't just that Aizen had set her up; something else was going on, something so much bigger. This was all part of a much larger plan. She was a pawn in a grander design. She was a sacrifice to a greater cause.

She sighed in resignation. As much as she hated to admit it, she was a small part in a much bigger machine. It was a set up, but not as she'd first thought. She hadn't quite outlived her usefulness; why else would Aizen have mentioned her girls? Their safety was on the line.

She pulled down the zip on her coat and reached into the inside pocket. Both Hitsugaya and Hisagi lurched forward in alarm and both calmed visibly when they saw the packet of cigarettes in her hand. Her lighter was tucked in the box next to her last cigarette.

She smiled at that. "One last cigarette," she murmured. How ironic. She placed it to her lips and lit it, and then she crumpled the empty carton in her fist and dropped it to the ground. Her lighter felt secure in her closed fist and she drew some small measure of comfort from it.

"Should we get his started then?" She said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Her cigarette balanced on her lips, she assumed a fighting stance. "Because there is no chance that I am going to come," she couldn't help but smirk, "quietly."

That seemed to take them all by surprise, which was something she was more than happy to take advantage of.

* * *

**I've reached the point with this chapter where I'm so sick of the sight of it, I no longer care if it's loaded with mistakes. Fuck you typos and grammatical errors! Also after writing this chapter I now hate Harribel with the fury of a thousand suns!**

**We should all pray to Quetzalcoatl that I don't take quite as long to finish up the next chapter.**

**Reviews are love!**


	34. Treading Water

**Lilyhammer – It was a sturgeon. I'm glad we cleared that up.**

**

* * *

**

Treading Water

Izuru's breath caught in his throat. He had locked his knees in an effort to stop his legs from trembling but all it seemed to have accomplished was to cause his entire body to quake. He could feel sweat pooling at the small of his back, his shirt clinging to his skin.

_N...no way..._

It couldn't be possible. Some sort of awful and completely unfunny joke was being played on him. All he had wanted to do was to help, and yet it had come to _this!_ He was stood in a narrow, dirty alley attempting to apprehend a woman who frankly terrified him. He couldn't move from where he was stood, watching the fight before him.

It had seemed so simple when Toshiro had first explained his plan. All they had to do was block off Harribel's escape and ask her some simple questions. If needed, then they could use force to restrain her. Given that there were three of them Izuru had naively assumed that Harribel wouldn't put up much of a fight. He had assumed wrong. And now he was frozen in place, watching as Shuuhei desperately tried to defend himself.

Harribel seized Shuuhei's wrist and pulled him towards her. She raised her knee and he twisted to avoid it. He overbalanced and stumbled. She took advantage of this, shoving him away from her. Shuuhei barely managed to stay on his feet.

It seemed impossible and if Izuru were not witnessing it firsthand, he would not have believed it. From what he could see, Tia Harribel was stronger than Shuuhei. She was faster than him, more experienced, all round a better fighter. Izuru knew it, Harribel knew it, and judging by the panicked desperation in Shuuhei's widened eyes, he knew it as well.

Shuuhei was backed against the wall now, his chest heaving as he dragged in much needed air. He had lost one of the knives in the struggle. It lay on the ground seemingly forgotten just past Harribel. The other was clutched in Shuuhei's right hand. Harribel stood before Shuuhei, calmly appraising him.

_She'll kill him, _Izuru thought. If he didn't do something soon then Shuuhei would die. Izuru's legs were locked tight though, refusing to listen to the half-hearted commands his brain was trying to convey. He was scared. Terrified. Everything about this woman scared him. She was stronger than Shuuhei, which meant that she was definitely stronger than Izuru. She exuded an air of complete confidence, of cold, hard calm that chilled Izuru. This woman inspired fear within him like he had never known before. But it wasn't the threat of violence that truly scared Izuru.

He had seen the calm in her eyes and he had seen the fury and the promise of worse to come. He had looked into her eyes and felt threatened. She had looked right back into his eyes and he had seen recognition in hers.

Harribel knew him. She knew his secret.

Izuru couldn't under any circumstances let anyone know his secret, know what he had done.

He watched as Shuuhei made a desperate lunge at Harribel, his knife swinging wide. She caught his wrist and twisted his arm. Izuru heard Shuuhei hiss in pain. Locking his elbow, Harribel forced Shuuhei back. Izuru felt bile at the back of his throat. To keep his secret he was going to stand and watch his friend die.

A high-pitched cry – no roar – shook Izuru from his despair. His jaw dropped as something – someone – small and with white hair barrelled into Harribel, knocking her away from Shuuhei. The effect was only momentary, Harribel quickly regained her balance, but Toshiro was clinging to her arm. He was closer to her than anyone had been so far. Not that Izuru had made any real effort to apprehend the woman. So far.

Toshiro lashed out with his fist, aiming for Harribel's exposed face. Her head snapped back and he missed, narrowly. The miss didn't deter Toshiro. He pressed forward. He struck again and again. His blows without pause, without precision and without the power required to harm her.

And yet, even with his weak blows and his near misses, he was forcing Harribel back. First one step, and then another, until she was on the defence, retreating from the boy before her. Izuru couldn't believe it. He would never have thought that Toshiro had it in him. The boy's face was twisted in anger, his cheeks burned red and his eyes blazed with rage. With a cry he leaped forward, his fist connecting solidly with Harribel's cheek. She staggered. And then she fell. She put a hand to the ground to soften the fall and the she scuttled backwards like a three-legged crab away from Toshiro.

Izuru stared in awe. Toshiro had done what Shuuhei had failed to do, he had knocked Harribel down. He was winning.

Harribel scrambled to her feet. Izuru couldn't see her face, but he could imagine the fury that would be there. She had been bested by a boy half her age and half her size.

Without realising it, Izuru had moved closer to the fight. His hands were held up close to his body, clenched into fists. A sense of excitement was bubbling within him. They could do this, they could actually win.

Shuuhei was still leaning against the wall, just beyond where Toshiro was standing, His eyes were wide in surprise and he was just as fixated on Toshiro as Izuru was. Toshiro was breathing heavily. There was still anger in his eyes and colour to his cheeks, but otherwise he looked calm. His body was held firm, and he did not shake. He was not afraid of this woman.

Izuru actually felt the beginnings of a pleased smile forming on his lips. He could almost feel the beginnings of the uncertainly that would no doubt be clouding Harribel's mind. She had to realise that she was going to lose. She was one against three, and Toshiro had proved that she couldn't hope to prevail.

She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, her hips twitching to the side. Something glinted in her left hand and cold fear stabbed in Izuru's gut. All at once he realised his and Toshiro's error. She hadn't stumbled. Toshiro hadn't landed a lucky blow. She had let that happen so that she would have an excuse to duck to the ground. Once more something flashed from her hand. Cold steel. She had picked up the discarded knife.

"Tell me where Rangiku is?" Toshiro demanded.

"And if I won't?" Harribel's voice was low and calm, betraying no weakness.

Toshiro's lip curled. His shoulder twitched before he lurched towards Harribel, roaring with anger.

"Shiro! No!" Izuru moved without realising it. His feet slapped against the ground as he rushed towards the two, all of his earlier fear forgotten. What would Momo think of him if he let anything happen to Toshiro?

/\/\/\

"_Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"_

Kensei hurtled down the narrow alley, his teeth clenched and the tendons in his neck standing out as he sped towards the idiots before him. For a moment he thought that he wouldn't actually be fast enough. Thankfully, he proved himself wrong.

The white-haired kid proved to be the perfect vault. Kensei's hand slapped down on his head and he hurdled over him. He had a moment to register the shock on Tia Harribel's face. And then he planted his feet firmly in her chest knocking her to the ground. And through some sort of defiance against gravity, Kensei managed to land on his feet and not his arse.

"You okay, kid?" He asked, not bothering to look over his shoulder. There was another kid stood behind Harribel, he looked ill though, all pale and sweaty.

"Wh- what's going?" The younger one behind Kensei asked. "Who are you?" He sounded completely bewildered and also more than a little angry. Confusion did that to young boys.

"I'm help," Kensei replied. "That's all you need to know."

Harribel slowly got to her feet. Behind her the blonde and sweaty kid had wisely decided to back off. Now where was the other moron, the one with the black hair, and what was he doing?

Kensei didn't have time to look for him. He kept his eyes trained on Harribel. He knew her type; she wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of him when he was distracted. That was fair, only an idiot took their eyes off of their opponent. They both stared at one another, their eyes boring into their minds, trying to figure the other out.

"I should warn you," Kensei growled, "I won't hold back just because you're a woman."

Her expression didn't change. She still looked infuriatingly calm. He figured that she was waiting for him to make the first move. He drew his lips back into a snarl, though it might have been a grin. Let her see that he meant business, let her see that he wouldn't make amateur mistakes.

"Kensei-stupid?"

His shoulders slumped as he heard that all too familiar wail. He had told her to wait in the van, and he had actually believed that this time she might have listened to him. He really should have known better.

Mashiro skipped up next to him, her arm casually brushing against his. He could feel his left eye twitching in annoyance. If Mashiro saw it though, she ignored it.

"Is this her?" She enquired, her wide-eyes gaze fixed on Harribel.

"Of course it is," Kensei replied tersely. "Now focus. We have a job to do here."

"Five against one." Harribel stood up straighter. Kensei could see the muted anger in her eyes and he didn't blame her for it. "That hardly seems fair. Has the Gotei 13 really fallen so low that it needs to send an entire pack to stop one woman?"

"We're not with the Gotei 13," Kensei answered. He could see the knife in Harribel's hand and he mapped in his mind her range of attack. She wouldn't go for him. She would pick a weaker opponent first. "And a lady of your talents should know that honour and chivalry have no place out here on the streets."

She frowned at that. "I guess not." There was a moment of silence, where everyone was perfectly still, right before Harribel made her move. A small part of Kensei had hoped that she would try to escape. If she had then he would have had the perfect excuse to let her go. But that would have been too much to hope for. She did surprise him though, she went straight for him. He didn't even flinch as lunged towards him, faster than she had a right to. From the corner of his eye Kensei saw a long white leg snap into view. It was very easy to forget just how quick Mashiro was.

Harribel certainly hadn't been expecting it. Her eyes widened as Mashiro's orange-booted foot cracked into her wrist. Kensei grabbed Harribel's wrist. Angling the knife away from his body, he drew Harribel close to him. Once you had a limb it was all over.

Harribel must have known this too. She didn't react like most though. Usually people made the mistake of trying to back off; they attempted to pull their captured limb from their attackers grasp. Harribel hunched her shoulder down and charged right into him. He grunted as her shoulder went into his ribs. He staggered back a few steps, his boots scraping against the ground.

He still had a grip on her left arm, but he was using both of his hands to keep it locked in place. She still had a limb free. He anticipated the blow against his side and he wheezed. It wasn't enough to make him let go though, so she did it again. He pushed her captured arm up and against her own body. They both knew that he could easily break it if he wanted to.

She drew her lips back, finally losing that calm exterior. Kensei didn't let it show on his face, but he knew that this was a victory. She just wasn't willing to risk her arm to escape. Once more she surprised him. She drew her fist back for another punch, and Kensei tightened his hold on her arm in warning. If she hit him again, he would snap her arm.

She raised her knee instead, driving it right between his legs.

Kensei didn't really make a sound. He grunted, screamed and inhaled all at once. It was an off-squeak that he would later feel ashamed for. At this moment he didn't really care. He let go of her arm and crumpled to the floor, his hands cupping his abused balls. He had felt that one right up in his lungs.

"Oh, Kensei, are you alright?" Mashiro asked from somewhere above him.

Kensei didn't trust himself to answer. Instead he clenched his jaw and whimper low in the back of his throat. He could hear all the men around him groaning in sympathy. Harribel at least had the grace not to attack him while he was lying down on the ground.

"Uh, would you like a hand?" a male voice this time.

Kensei barely managed to nod. He felt strong hands on his arms, helping him to his feet in a surprisingly gentle manner. It was the black haired kid. Kensei frowned as he took in the kids face; he had scars running down one side of his face and he also had a very familiar looking tattoo. Interesting.

"That was cheap," Kensei growled at Harribel.

"Cheap? You're the one who said that honour had no place on the streets," she replied calmly. "I did what I had to do to survive. You should think yourself lucky that I didn't take advantage of your situation."

Kensei didn't bother replying to that. He wasn't completely sure he could answer. He was leaning heavily on the kid with the tattoo. The situation was getting out of hand. It was just plain ridiculous that one woman as making such a mockery of their attempts to apprehend her. They were men dammit, and they weren't going to be beaten. And certainly were not going to be beaten by a lone woman.

Kensei rolled back his shoulder and straightened up. "I don't know who you are," Kensei said to the kid next to him, "but thank you. Now, you're back up, so follow my lead."

The kid nodded and to his credit managed to not look scared. Harribel looked bored. The sweaty kid was still keeping out of the way and the little kid was... well, Kensei didn't actually care where he was at this precise moment. So long as he was out of the way, then he could be anywhere.

"I think that's enough."

Kensei restrained his sigh of annoyance. He looked back over his shoulder towards the two women that were now walking towards him. Did know one listen o him anymore? He had told them to stay in the van as well.

"Lisa, Hiyori," he grunted. "What are you doing here?"

"You looked as though you needed a hand," Lisa answered. The heels of her boots tapped noisily against the ground as she walked. They were her favourite boots, Kensei knew, he thought that perhaps she considered them lucky too. Lisa pushed between Kensei and the kid, facing down Harribel with a flat stare. "You owe me new glasses."

Harribel didn't reply, but her eyes hardened and she clenched her jaw. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. Kensei wondered if it had been a good idea for Lisa to join them.

"Are we all just gonna stand around doing nothing?" Hiyori demanded loudly. She pointed at Harribel. "You're comin' with us!"

"Huh?" the white haired kid blurted. "No, she's not."

Harribel frowned. "You're not with them?"

"Haven't got a clue who these three are." Kensei pointed to the three kids.

"Ridiculous."

"Yes," Lisa said, "it is. However that doesn't change the fact that it is now seven against one. You are in no position to say or do anything. It would be in your best interest to cooperate. I would rather we did this without violence."

Harribel considered a moment. Her eyes scanned across the ragtag group. Finally she sighed and straightened up. "What exactly is it that you want?"

"Answers," Lisa said.

Harribel shook her head. "I don't have any answers."

Kensei nearly believed her. Aizen wasn't the kind of man to share any of his thoughts, certainly not to her type. Except that he knew that Harribel at least had some of the answers pertaining to Matsumoto. Why else would her name have been mentioned in the note?

Lisa stepped forward and towards Harribel. Kensei wasn't certain that it was a smart move. He could see that Harribel hated Lisa; the intensity of her glare could have burned a hole in the wall. But Lisa had that determined look on her face she got when she had decided that she was right. Kensei knew that Lisa wouldn't listen to anything he said now.

"I think you do," Lisa said, all practical like as though she was dealing with a minor complaint in the office. "I think you have many answers. Actually, I'm positive that you do. And I also think that you want to tell me what you know."

A muscle in Harribel's neck twitched and Kensei reacted without even thinking. It was pure instinct. He punched Harribel square in her jaw. He heard the satisfying pop of his knuckles connecting with the woman's face, and Harribel dropped like a sack of shit.

"What the hell Kensei?" Lisa shrieked.

Kensei shrugged."She had a knife."

Everyone was staring at either him or Harribel in slack jawed horror. He turned and took in all their expressions of disbelief. Mashiro slapped him on the arm.

"You're not supposed to hit ladies, Kensei-stupid," she admonished him loudly.

"What?" He stared at her. "She had a knife! What was I supposed to do? Let her stab Lisa? Huh?" He was really starting to become angry.

"We had everything under control!" Hiyori bellowed. "You sucker-punched her!"

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"Enough! Enough!" Lisa cut in before anyone else could add their opinion. "What's done is done." She sighed and straightened out her glasses. "Kensei, chuck her in the back of the van."

Thankful that things weren't going to spiral into a childish shouting contest, Kensei was only too happy to follow Lisa's lead. He crouched down and gently rolled Harribel over. She was definitely unconscious. A large bruise was already forming on her face from her he'd hit her.

"Don't touch her!"

Kensei raised his head and stared right up at the enraged face of the white-haired kid.

/\/\/\

Toshiro quivered with anger. Everything had been going so well. They had found Harribel and then they had somehow managed to beat her back. It would only have been a simple task of restraining Harribel, and then he would have been able to get the answers he so desperately needed.

And then he'd be able to save Rangiku.

He should have known that it wouldn't go to plan though. Right when it was all starting to go right, that man – that thug – had shown up and ruined everything. And now Toshiro was faced with the prospect that this new little group was going to take Harribel somewhere and do who knows what to her.

He couldn't allow that. He _wouldn't_ allow it.

He drew in a calming breath before speaking. "Who are you?" He addressed the question to the man with the silver hair. He had shown up first so Toshiro was inclined to believe that he was the one in charge.

The man grunted softly. He stood up and fixed a hard stare on Toshiro. "I think I should be asking you that."

Toshiro stepped closer to him, not letting his eyes leave the man's. He wanted to show this thug that he didn't intimidate him.

A sharp sigh drew Toshiro's attention away from the man. The woman with glasses stepped between them. "He's Hitsugaya Toshiro," she said indicating Toshiro, "he's with the Gotei 13. The other two are Hisagi Shuuhei and Kira Izuru. They are also with the Gotei 13."

"He's with the Gotei 13?" the man bellowed. "But he's about nine."

"I'm fourteen!" Toshiro yelled.

"Ya don't look it, shorty!" The girl with the pigtails shouted at him.

"You're in no position to comment on anyone's height!"

"Enough!" Glasses said. She sighed again and turned to Toshiro. "I'm Yadomaru Lisa." She introduced herself and then went through her associates who each grunted a greeting, except for Mashiro who very loudly and excitedly squealed.

Toshiro turned to Lisa; it was now painfully obvious to him that she was the one in charge. "What do you want with Harribel?"

"The same as you," she replied. "Answers. You're not the only one who has been trying to find out what happened to Matsumoto. Actually," she laughed lightly, "I have to admit that if it wasn't for you, I would never have found her."

"What?"

"You came into the Shihouin building a few days ago. I believe that you're friends with Hinamori."

"She told you why I was there?" Toshiro was shocked. He hadn't expected that. Given their history, he had thought that Momo was one of the ones he could trust implicitly. He felt slightly sick as he realised that he had been wrong.

"No, she didn't," Lisa said. "You bumped into me as you were leaving. I recognised you and decided to find out what you were doing. We don't often find children in the office."

"I could have just been visiting a friend," Toshiro said lamely. He felt more annoyed that it had been his error that had led Lisa and her cohorts to Harribel, but also relieved that Momo hadn't betrayed him. The fact that Lisa had referred to him as a child did irk him though.

"But you weren't." Lisa smiled. "I make it my business to know what's going on around me. You piqued my interest and so I had to look into you."

"Lisa-Chan's nosey!" Mashiro said happily.

"I'm curious," Lisa countered.

"It's the same thing," Kensei said. He was standing next to Mashiro now, away from Harribel who was still slumped unconscious on the ground. Toshiro couldn't help but notice that Kensei stood a little too close to Mashiro.

Hisagi and Kira had moved to stand behind Toshiro. They now flanked him on either side like guards. It was an oddly reassuring gesture and Toshiro was silently thankful for the backup. He tried to ignore the fact that Kira was a sweaty, shaking mess and that that Hisagi was busy staring at Kensei in what looked disturbingly like adoration.

"What do you propose?" Toshiro asked Lisa.

"That we take charge and that you three go home."

"Not a chance," Hisagi growled. "We have just as much right to her as you guys do. Actually, seeing as how this is a matter for the Gotei 13, we have more right. This doesn't concern you."

Lisa smiled. "Except you're not working for the Gotei 13 right now, are you?" She looked between all three of them and it was a bit like being stared down by your teacher. Toshiro felt himself blush. It was like being stared down by the teacher that you had a crush on, he corrected himself, and she clearly knew it. Lisa's smiled became all the more predatory. "The Gotei 13 has washed their hands of Matsumoto. They knew where to find Harribel, they knew that Aizen was involved and yet they have done nothing. You three have decided to take matters into your own hands, right?"

Toshiro flushed. "It doesn't matter," he said trying to keep his voice from trembling. "And it's pointless to argue among ourselves. You're right; we aren't here on the Gotei 13's orders." He scratched at his face, trying to bide some time while he thought over what he was going to say. Would Hisagi and Kira go along with him? He didn't have the time to confer with them. He'd just have to trust that they would still have his back no matter what his next move was. "We should be working together," he said.

Lisa raised both her eyebrows in surprise. "We should?" She tipped her head to the side and made a show of thinking it through. "That could work."

"What are you doing Lisa?" Hiyori demanded shrilly. "You can't just go making decisions like that."

"Actually, I can." Lisa held her hand out towards Toshiro. "I think that this could prove to be quite beneficial to us."

Toshiro nodded sharply and then took hold of Lisa's hand. She had a firm handshake and his felt limp in comparison, not to mention clammy. He released her hand and stepped back. "You both okay with this?" He muttered to Kira and Hisagi.

"You're in charge," Hisagi replied.

"Yeah," Kira said sounding relieved, "whatever you say we'll go along with."

"That's good," Toshiro sighed in relief. He felt a little lighter now that he knew Kira and Hisagi were still with him. When he had the chance he would have to discuss with them properly what he had in mind. For now it suited him to follow Lisa's lead.

"Right then," Kensei said loudly and with purpose. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them, a huge grin on his face. "Which one of you boys is going to help me carry her?" He stared at Hisagi and Kira.

Hisagi jumped forward enthusiastically. "I'll do it."

"You grab the legs, I've got the arms." Kensei hauled Harribel up, his arms hooked under her armpits, while Hisagi took hold of her knees. They shuffled back and towards the end of the alley, where Toshiro assumed that they had a van or something. Kensei paused next to Kira and looked him up and down. "Perhaps some deodorant next time, son."

Kira's usually pale face bloomed with colour and he looked away, his head dipping down in shame. Toshiro kept close to Lisa, his eyes fixed on Kensei and Hisagi as they carried Harribel away.

/\/\/\

Harribel woke to darkness. The air around her was warm and moist and smelled like her own breath. It was stifling. She recognised immediately that something, a bag perhaps, had been placed over her head. It was cloth and surprisingly soft, if she moved her lips to it she could suck cool, fresh air through it. Her hands were tied behind her back, twisted over the back of a chair. A few experimental tugs let her know that her wrists were firstly tied together, and secondly were bound to the chair. Her ankles were taped together but were not fastened to the chair. She entertained herself for a few minutes experimentally pulling on her restraints, twisting her wrists to see if she could loosen the tape that held her.

She was secured tightly and knew that she couldn't escape. She didn't like the darkness and liked even less the feel of something over her head. It was constricting and caused an irrational flare of panic within her. She ignored the panic, pushed it to the back of her mind and refused to let it surface.

It was impossible to ignore the cold, slow creep of fear that was settling over her. She had no idea where she was and only a rough idea of who had taken her. Her jaw ached and cheek felt swollen. She didn't even remember the punch that had knocked her out, though she could hazard a guess at who it had come from.

There was no noise save from the sound of her own breaths, deeper than usual. She was probably alone. The fear was gripping her; she was scared for herself, but more than that she was scared for her girls. She had to remind herself that Apche, Sun-Sun and Mila-Rose were more than capable of taking care of themselves, and didn't need her to be watching over them constantly.

"_Know that we'll be taking the very best care of Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun in your absence."_

The panic was back but for completely different reasons as she remembered Aizen's parting words. He had Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun, and he was going to use them against her. She had heard the threat then but hadn't given it too much notice since she had been so confident in her ability to capture Hitsugaya. But that wasn't what he wanted, was it?

She exhaled and set herself to thinking this through. Aizen had two of her girls as collateral to make sure that she completed her task. It would have been nice if he had explained to her properly exactly what he wanted her to do. Had Aizen actually wanted her to be taken? Was that the set up? Was she doing exactly what he wanted her to do? And if she failed, what would happen to Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun?

She pushed that thought out of her mind. She tried to find comfort in the thought that Apache wasn't in Aizen's grasp. It wasn't a comforting thought. Aizen would be able to find her and Harribel didn't want to think what he might do to her.

There was nothing Harribel could do but wait.

She might have fallen asleep. She wasn't sure. Her arms ached from being held in such an awkward position and her head felt heavy. She could only guess at how much time had passed. Her mouth was dry and she licked at her lips. Hours? Probably. But then it could only have been minutes and her mind was playing tricks on her. It felt like it had been hours. Given a couple of hours more and it would probably feel like days.

She lifted her head and forced her lips to the edge of the bag, sucking fresher through the slightly moist cloth. It was just what she needed, she immediately felt a little lighter and more awake. She settled back to waiting. When they came to 'question' her they would find her awake and alert.

More time passed. This time Harribel was certain that it was hours. The ache in her biceps had travelled down the length of her arm and her fingers tingled uncomfortably. It didn't matter. She focussed on listening. She thought that perhaps she could hear someone else in the room with her. It might just have been her mind playing tricks on her, but she hoped that there was someone there.

Silence. It was strange, but silence almost made its own noise when you listened to it long enough. Silence was actually very loud.

Her head jerked up as she heard a whisper of movement. Someone was definitely here with her.

"Who's there?" her voice sounded hoarse, but not weak and that was the important bit.

Hands rested on her shoulders; they were strong and the fingers were long, they dug in a little, prodding at sore flesh. She felt them move in closer, the person's mouth near her ear.

"Aizen-Sama is very pleased with you."

Harribel's breath caught in her throat. It was a male voice, deep and assured. She thought that perhaps she recognised it.

"You are to remain here, to wait."

"What does he want me to do?" She asked.

"To wait. To listen." The man moved so that he was speaking into Harribel's other ear. "There is a ...problem here that he wants you to take care of." A pause and the man noisily licked his lips. "He wants you to know that he had not forgotten about you and that when you have completed your task that he will free you."

"I don't understand. What does he want me to do?" She sounded desperate and her control was slipping, revealing her fear. "How will I know what this problem is?"

"You'll know," the man said mysteriously. He left her then.

"Wait!" Harribel yelled. "Wait! What about..." She was breathing hard, irregularly. She turned her head to the side as though she would somehow be able to see him through the cloth. He was gone though, she knew that though she couldn't say how she knew.

She was alone. Again.

But she had a task to complete.

* * *

**I know, I know, there was no YoruSoi... again. I'm getting to that. I'm told that patience is a virtue. Despite the lack of YoruSoi I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter, feel free to whine if you didn't.**

**Now that I've got this out of the way I can get back to working on **_**Winning isn't Everything **_**which is nothing but YoruSoi so ...um... yay?**

**Thanks again for reading and reviews are very welcome.**


	35. Drowning

Drowning

The stool that Shinji was sat on wobbled beneath him. Only three of the four legs touched the ground; the fourth was warped and shrunk, and missed the floor by mere millimetres. He leaned forward, his forearms resting on his legs, twirling his flat cap in his hands.

"So," he said, chewing his gum noisily, "has she said anything interesting?"

Lisa pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose before answering. "Some. Enough to make her seem useful at any rate."

Shinji sighed and put his cap back on. "Smart woman. She knows that as soon as we find out what we want then we'll have no use for her. She thinks that we'll kill her then."

"Will you?" The question was spat angrily at Shinji and also with a degree of certainty that suggested that the questioner believed that Shinji would happily kill Harribel.

Shinji turned his head and smiled at Hitsugaya. The boy was sat across the small office with his back to the wall. His arms were folded crossly across his chest and he glowered at Shinji with all the rage that a fourteen year old boy could muster. It was a surprising amount. Shinji's smiled widened that bit more. "Of course."

Hitsugaya turned his head and made a disgusted noise. So far Hitsugaya and his little friends had been equal parts useful and also completely in the way. He was smart, a quick thinker, and he had information that Shinji wanted, mostly pertaining to Boobs, which meant that they could ask Harribel some very precise questions and he could then decipher the lies from the truth. But he also had some issues with their methods. Apparently tying Harribel to a chair and leaving her alone in a dark room for a couple of days was inhumane. Or something like that. Shinji hadn't really been listening to the boy's rants and had only caught the condensed version from Hiyori which came complete with much more colourful language.

Shinji was tempted to ask Hitsugaya exactly how he had been planning on extracting information from Harribel. If a bit of mental torture was out of the question, and physical was so far out of the question it hadn't even been brought up, then what the hell had Hitsugaya been planning on doing? Asking nicely? Bribing her with candy? The boy was apparently going to rely on his winning personality to charm answers out of Harribel.

Shinji snorted a quick laugh. He'd didn't think that he had ever met a more disagreeable and grumpy child.

Shinji was also sorely tempted to ask Kensei to take Hitsugaya for a ride. And by ride he actually meant for a ride around the city. Take the kid to the arcade, or buy him an ice cream or something. What on earth was a kid doing caught up in all this anyways?

"I'm just kidding," Shinji said with a laugh and a wave of his hand. He stood up and placed his hands on his hips. His back felt funny, like it needed to crack. "I wouldn't kill her."

Hitsugaya didn't look like he believed him. "What will you do with her then?"

Shinji shrugged. "Give her back to Aizen I suppose."

"That's as good as killing her."

"Yeah, but I'm not the one pulling the trigger." Shinji pushed his hips forward and felt his spine pop in a very satisfying manner. He turned to Lisa. "What are the chances of you doing a coffee run?"

"Low," Lisa replied.

"Well that's disappointing." Shinji pouted. He looked to Hitsugaya. "You're too young to drink coffee."

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are." Shinji moved to the window of his office and slid his fingers between the blinds, creaking them open an inch or two. He peered out into the near darkness. Harribel was still tied to a chair and sat in the middle of the large room. Hisagi, Kira and Love were watching over her for the moment. They all looked very bored.

Once they had bundled Harribel into the van, Kensei and the rest had brought her straight here, the abandoned warehouse that Shinji and his cohorts used as a base of operations. It was underground, dark and cold, the perfect place to unnerve a prisoner. The only meagre comforts here were what Shinji had brought in with him. His office was made from cheap plywood, with a crappy plastic window. There was another room that they had knocked up that they used as a kitchen, but that was really it as far as home comforts went. Shinji had been slightly pleased by the look of shock on Hitsugaya's face when he was first brought down here.

"I guess I'll do the coffee run," Shinji drawled, and then he sighed loudly. "Y'know, there's a lot to be said about having minions to do your bidding."

Lisa's stare was flat and distinctly unamused. "You wouldn't know what to do with minions."

"Sure I would!" Shinji smirked. "I just can't tell ya 'cause there are children present." He turned on his heel and opened the door to the office and stepped out. Closing the door caused the flimsy walls to shake. Shinji chuckled at that. One day he would have to actually find a decent joiner to fix that.

He moved quickly across the warehouse, giving Love a nod as he passed. He wondered where Rose was. It wasn't often that you found one without the other. The stairs that led up and out of the building were, like always, in complete darkness. Shinji trailed his hand against the wall and quickly made his way up them, his feet knowing exactly where to go even if his eyes were unsure.

He blinked against the sunlight. He'd been inside for too long and had lost track of the days. He had thought that it would be dark out, but from the looks of things it was more likely to be morning. Oh well, at least it was a nice day.

"Where ya going?"

Shinji jumped, spinning around in surprise. Hiyori was leaning against the building, her arms crossed and a glare fixed to her face.

"Nowhere," he said defensively.

She stared at him suspiciously. "You have to be going somewhere."

"No I don't." He turned from her and continued on his way, making sure that he walked slowly enough so that he wouldn't leave her behind. He knew that she'd follow after him.

"Shinji!" She bellowed. "Tell me where you're going!"

Shinji stopped and shrugged, he looked back over his shoulder. "To get some coffee. Why, do you want some?"

She caught up with him and stood there, her lip stuck out and her nose wrinkled. Some would have said that she looked petulant, but Shinji knew better. She looked adorable when she sneered like that, beautiful even. He doubted that he ever get used to that look, never mind bored of it. The only way for her expression to be better would be if she were to curl her lip in utter contempt.

"Depends where you're getting coffee from," she muttered.

"Dunno, I hadn't thought that far ahead." She followed after him, not saying anything, though Shinji thought he could hear her grumbling.

His car was parked across the street. Hit was easily the oldest car on the street and looked shabby next to the other, much newer, vehicles. He wrenched the door open, working against an old dent that often wedged it shut, and climbed in. Hiyori followed suit, clambering into the passenger side.

"Have you been sitting in on the interrogation?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah. It's pointless."

Shinji glanced over at her in surprise. He hadn't expected her to say that. "Huh," he breathed, turning back to face the road. He pulled on his seatbelt, and then jammed his keys into the ignition. "Why is it pointless?"

"Cause it's a waste of time," she said, sneering. "She's just leading them all round in circles, keeping us occupied while Aizen does his thing."

"You might have a point there," Shinji admitted. "But then what do you suggest we do? It's not as though we have any other leads."

"We don't need any leads!" She yelled. "We know where Aizen is. Why aren't we just going there and kicking his ass?"

Shinji scratched at his chin. "Well, it's a little bit more complicated than that."

Hiyori snorted in a distinctly unfeminine manner. "No, it's not."

"So your plan would be that we march up to Aizen's place, kick down the door, burst in there and then... what?" he raised his hands questioningly. "What would we do then? Shoot the place up? Stand and shout at 'im?"

"We could do something," she insisted.

"He's got plenty of his own goons in there," Shinji reasoned, "all the more reason to keep well away, if you ask me. Way I see it, we found out something from this Harribel and then we let that something slip to the Gotei 13. Let them be the ones to play at being heroes."

Hiyori pouted at that. "Except that's not the way this is going to play out," she muttered. "You won't be leavin' it to the Gotei 13 to take care of things. I know you, Shinji and that's not the way you do things."

Shinji shrugged. "Guess not. You are right that we're wasting our time with Harribel though." He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "What'd you say that we go and find some real answers? We can get coffee on the way."

She looked at him, "What is it with you an' coffee these days?"

"It tastes good. Besides," he grinned at her, "coffee might be just what we need to get some answers outta the guy we're going to speak to."

Hiyori's smiled. "Real answers? You almost make it sound like you know what you're doin'."

Shinji grinned back at her. His fingers found their way back to the keys in the ignition and his car sputtered into life. He only hoped that Urahara was in a sharing mood. Hiyori was going to be pissed when she realised who exactly it was that they were going to speak to.

/\/\/\

Harribel's head was bowed, the steady moving of the cloth back being sucked in as she inhaled and then blown out as she exhaled was the only movement she made. Toshiro watched her from a distance. He took a sip from the bottle of water he had in his hand and the refastened the cap, and then returned to leaning against the flimsy wall of Hiroko Shinji's office. Things hadn't turned out at all how Toshiro had planned. He had been naive in assuming that he, Kira and Hisagi would be enough to take Harribel out. He hadn't thought through how she would react and he hadn't planned sufficiently for what he would do with her afterwards. It was lucky that Shinji's cohorts had shown up when they did.

His cool gaze went from Kira to Hisagi and then finally settled on Love. Toshiro wasn't sure what to make of him, but then he wasn't sure what to make of any of these people, these _Vizards, _as they called themselves. He still wasn't completely sure if he should trust Kira and Hisagi. At least they weren't all for torturing Harribel, and at least they actually did what he asked of them, usually without question. It was unnerving to have two men older than he follow his orders so readily. He tried not to think on it too much.

They hadn't got far with the questioning, and though Toshiro was loath to admit it, he didn't think that he could possibly have achieved better results than Shinji and Lisa had so far. Harribel had refused to react to any of the methods they had tried, and Toshiro had stopped them from attempting more extreme methods. He wondered now if that had been a mistake.

"She's a toughie."

Toshiro raised his head at the sound of Lisa approaching him. She made him feel uncomfortable, in a similar manner that Rangiku had – _did_ – but with a slightly more sinister twist. He was thankful that Lisa hadn't tried to embarrass him, since the experience would no doubt be mortifying. He nodded at her. "Yeah. I can see that."

She stopped next to him and also leaned against the wall, making it bend beneath the added weight. "How are you keeping up?"

"I'm fine." He was as far removed from fine as he had ever been in his life. He felt as though he was walking on a knife edge. "What do you want?"

"You're a suspicious kid," she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for him to hear. "I just wanted to check on you and make sure that everything is okay. Shinji asked me to keep an eye on you, and that's what I'm doing."

That wasn't comforting. Toshiro figured that her job was to keep him out of the way and to take care of him if he got to be too troublesome.

"Y'know, there are other ways we can make her talk."

"No." Toshiro shook his head violently. "I won't allow it. I won't let you hurt her." It seemed very important to him that he at least held onto this principle. He would not let them harm her and he would not let them kill her. Even if she was the enemy, she was still a human being and he would protect her.

"Oh it won't hurt her." Lisa chuckled and it raised the hairs on Toshiro's arms. "Quite the opposite, actually I think she would find the experience quite pleasurable."

It was moments like this that Lisa reminded him of Rangiku. Only Rangiku had never scared him like Lisa did. When Lisa spoke like this she made him feel terrified, and something else which he couldn't quite put into words. He shifted his legs and bowed his head, feeling a deep blush creep up his neck to infuse his face with colour. "No," he said finally his voice strained. "I won't allow that either. It's still torture."

Lisa actually huffed at that. "If you say so. Only we're running out of ideas and if she won't talk then it either means that we can't make her talk or she doesn't know anything." Lisa was looking right at him as she spoke, he could see himself reflected in the lenses of her spectacles. He looked scared. "And if she doesn't know anything then there's no point in us holding her. She's too dangerous for us to let go."

"No! Shinji said that he wouldn't..."

Lisa gripped his arm tightly. "Shinji's soft," she hissed. "That woman knows too much. She knows our names and she might have an idea of where we are. She's far too dangerous for us to let he just go skipping back to Aizen." Toshiro tried to pull away from her, but her grip was too tight. "Shinji has a soft spot for woman, if it was a man tied up there then chances are he'd be dead by now. I'm not risking my life or the life of my friends by letting her walk out of here. Do you understand?"

Toshiro understood perfectly. Shinji wouldn't kill Harribel but Lisa would, and from the look in her eyes she would do it soon.

"So if you think that she has some answers," Lisa said her voice low and hard, "then think of a way to get her to spill her guts. Otherwise..." she left the suggestion open.

He wrenched his arm from her grip and backed away from her. Of all the people here he hadn't really expected her to be the one to threaten Harribel. Lisa had seemed like a talker and definitely not a fighter. She hadn't seemed so cold that she could just take a life without any motivation.

But then wasn't protecting her friends' motivation enough?

"I'll think of something," Toshiro said. He didn't really believe his words, but that didn't matter, so long as Lisa did. He needed to buy time. He walked form Lisa and across the large underground room. It made him think of a cavern, would it really have been that much effort to make the place seem more welcoming? He stopped next to Hisagi, trusting him to be more coherent and in control than Kira. "Anything?"

Hisagi shook his head. "Nothing. But then we haven't tried today, we've just been watching her." He spoke quietly so that Harribel wouldn't hear him. He looked to his left towards Love, standing nonchalantly against one of the many pillars that decorated the place. "I don't trust these guys."

"You seemed quite taken with Kensei."

Hisagi frowned. "Yeah, but that's before I knew what he was up to. He used to play basketball, really made a name for himself at it and could easily have played pro." He shrugged. "But he dropped out and disappeared off the map. I followed his early career."

"You didn't know about his connections to the Vizards?"

He shook his head. "No. I knew that he used to be connected to the Gotei 13, they were backing his career, but that's all."

Toshiro wondered if that was why Hisagi had become involved with the Gotei 13, trying to emulate his hero. "I have an idea. I'm going to talk to Harribel, would you stand at my back?"

"Of course." He moved to follow Toshiro and they both closed the distance on Harribel. Toshiro watched as Love straightened up, his eyes hidden by sunglasses. He could feel Lisa's eyes on him as well, even though she was all the way at the other side of the room. Toshiro risked a glance in Kira's direction, he looked even worse than usual. His hair was lank and clung to his sweaty, pale face, and he was trembling, his fingers constantly fiddling with whatever was close to hand. Toshiro didn't think he'd seen Kira eat since they'd got here, and he knew that had hadn't been sleeping. He was far closer to snapping than Harribel was.

Harribel must have heard them approach or perhaps she just sensed the shift of the mood in the room. It would be hard to miss; everything had gone still and was tense. "This is certainly interesting," she said, her voice muffled by the bag over her head. "Usually they approach from behind."

"I have no need to sneak up on you," Toshiro said calmly. "I just want to talk."

"A lot of people want to talk to me recently."

"Yeah, you're real popular," Hisagi sneered.

Harribel's head cocked to the side. "Interesting."

"What is?" Toshiro asked.

"His voice," she replied. "I feel as though I've heard it before."

"That's perfectly understandable, he's been here this whole time and he was one of the ones who caught you."

She looked forward, her head still raised. "That must be it," she said finally, settling back into the chair. "I don't feel like talking today."

"Tough. I do." Toshiro tried to make his voice sound hard, the way Lisa did, but even to his ears it sounded weak. He took a long, shuddering breath, preparing himself for what he was going to do. He placed his hand on Harribel's knee, she twitched at the contact but that was all, and he leaned in close to her, his mouth near her ear. "I need you to help me." It was a plea, and he didn't have to feign the desperation in his voice.

He thought he heard her swallow. "I can't help you." Her voice was quiet and it cracked, and he knew from it that she could and possibly would help him.

"Please. I don't want them to hurt you. I don't want them to..." he had to swallow, unable to finish that sentence. She had understood what he was saying though, he knew she had. They both knew that her life was at stake here. "I know that you can help me, and I can help you. I won't let them hurt you. Please."

"You're getting a bit close there, Hitsugaya-Kun!" Love called to him. His was voice was filled with mock cheer, as though he was straining to be pleasant.

"He's fine!" Hisagi barked.

"Please, Harribel," Toshiro said, his voice urgent. "All you have to do is talk." He felt frantic all of a sudden, as though he only had these few seconds to save her life.

"Love's right," Lisa said loudly. "You need to back away from her. You're putting yourself in needless danger."

"Sh-Shiro," Kira this time, he sounded shaky and unsure.

It felt as though they were all closing in on him, pressuring him to get results. He was still holding the bottle of water in one hand and he dropped it to the floor, flinching as it landed with far too loud a bang. He placed his now free hand on Harribel's shoulder, his face brushing against hers. He spoke quickly, his voice trembling with his urgency to keep this woman alive. "I won't let them harm you. I won't let any of them touch you; not the Vizards, not the Gotei 13 and not Aizen." He needed this woman alive and he would not let them kill her. Not when he needed her to save Rangiku. "I'll protect you. I swear it."

Beat. Her breathing stilled and Toshiro could hear his own heart pounding loudly in his ears, nearly deafening him.

"Untie me and I'll talk."

"Done." Toshiro's fingers pulled at the knot holding the bag over her head. He pulled it loose just as a strong arm circled round his waist and hauled him back and off the ground.

"What d'ya think you're doing?" Love yelled.

"Get off him!" Hisagi shouted.

Toshiro looked up as Harribel shook the bag from her head. She looked right at Toshiro, her green eyes locked on his. "He's the only one I'll talk you!" she said harshly, baring her teeth at them all. "So I suggest you let him go."

Everyone froze. Toshiro was still being held off of the ground by Love. Just before him Hisagi stood, his face grim and determined, his hand around his back, probably reaching for his knife. Toshiro couldn't see Kira from here, but he could hear his rapid intake of breath. Over this Toshiro heard the steady, rhythmic clicks of Lisa's heels on the concrete. She walked quite calmly into view and stood just behind Harribel.

"Well that certainly was interesting," she said with a secretive smile that Toshiro felt sure was meant just for him. "Put him down, Love."

"You sure?" He definitely sounded amused now. "Seems to me that he was trying to free the prisoner."

"Its fine, I'll take responsibility for this."

Slowly, Love lowered Toshiro down. Toshiro moved away from him, straightening out his clothes. He nodded to Hisagi once he felt settled, and Hisagi straightened up, no longer reaching for his knife.

"Now then, Hitsugaya-San," Lisa said still smiling. "Just what is your plan?"

It took a while to get sorted, to explain in hushed tones to Lisa what he wanted. He left the rest to her, she was much better at organising than he could ever hope to be. Besides, this was her turf and he didn't want to tread where he wasn't welcome. He stayed close to Harribel, who was still tied to the chair, while Lisa organised Love and roused a couple of the others to help her out. Hisagi still stood close to Toshiro, keeping an eye on him. Kira was slumped on the ground looking worn out.

"Everything's going to be fine," Toshiro whispered to himself. "I can do this."

"Right then!" Kensei emerged from Shinji's office, dusting his hands together. "It's all ready for you both. I'm going to be in the room with you both."

"I refuse," Harribel said quietly. "I'll only speak to this one."

"I have a name," Toshiro muttered. "Whatever she says. You can wait outside the room, it's not as though she can escape with you all waiting out here for her."

"She could kill you though," Love pointed out.

"What would be the point in that?" Toshiro knelt down behind Harribel and started cutting away at the tape and rope that bound her with Hisagi's knife. Once she was free, he handed the knife back to Hisagi and stood up.

Harribel stood; she was clearly shaky on her feet and spent a moment working out the kinks in her limbs. She didn't seem at all phased by the presence around her and was content to take her time.

"No deal," Lisa said. "Someone needs to be in there with you. I don't trust her."

"Would it be alright if Hisagi was with us?" Toshiro asked Harribel. "It'll still only be me talking. He'll just stand at the back and he won't say or do anything."

She nodded. "That is acceptable."

"That good enough?" Toshiro called over to Lisa.

Lisa nodded her assent. "It'll suffice. The only things left in the office are the desk and two chairs. We've left you both water to drink and also a little something to eat. I have no doubt that by this point Harribel must be hungry." She shooed Kensei away from the office and stood by the door, gesturing for Toshiro to head on in.

He waited until both Hisagi and Harribel entered before he went to enter. He paused and looked to Lisa. She still had that small smile to her lips as though she knew something he didn't. "You forced my hand," he said quietly. "You knew that she would talk to me, didn't you?"

"I most certainly did not." Her lips twitched, her smile threatening to widen into a grin.

Toshiro suddenly felt like he'd been played. He wondered if Lisa had been serious about her earlier threats or if she had just been pushing him into acting. He frowned and went into the office. Lisa closed the door behind him. She hadn't been kidding when she said that they'd cleared everything out. Shinji's desk was set in the centre of the small room, Harribel sitting at one side and a vacant chair on the other. There were two plastic cups filled with water and a couple of biscuits on the table. They had reduced the amount of things that could possibly be used as a weapon. Obviously they still viewed Harribel as a threat.

He sat down in the vacant chair and took a sip of water. Harribel just sat there, staring at him expectantly. "It's no good looking to me. I don't know how these things usually work."

"That isn't comforting."

"You're bound to be thirsty." He gestured to the water. "Have a drink."

She did, sipping the water gently. "It's funny. Matsumoto also offered me something to drink."

"So you are the one who took her."

"You went to all that effort to find me and you didn't even know if I was the one who kidnapped her?" Harribel seemed amused by this. "You are a strange one. Yes, I am the one who took her. Myself and my..." she searched for a word. "My subordinates shall we call them, broke into her apartment while she was out and waited for her to return."

Toshiro nodded. He could already feel anger welling within him, but he stomped down on it. It would neither him nor Rangiku any good if he was to lose it. "Did you hurt her?"

"You promised me immunity," she said coldly. "I'm not going to answer any questions until you explain exactly how you'll protect me from your little friends out there."

He nodded. That was fair and it should have been the first thing he brought up. "Okay. I'm with the Gotei 13, but most of those out there are a separate organisation."

"You are working outside of the Gotei 13?"

"Yes, but that doesn't alter my standing with them. I will cut a deal with them to keep you safe," he explained. "It'll mean that you'll have to speak to them as well, I'm sure that there is plenty of information that they will want to know. The Vizards, I have little sway with them, but I know that Shinji is reluctant to let any harm come to you. I think that as long as they aren't left out of the loop then they'll cooperate."

"And Aizen?"

"You'll be kept under protective custody by the Gotei 13." Or possibly the Vizards, Toshiro hadn't really thought this far ahead. "He won't be able to touch you then."

"You know so very little about him."

"I swear that I won't let him harm you." He meant it as well. He would not let Aizen hurt anyone else, even this woman who had caused him so much grief.

She sipped her water again. He watched the way it moistened her lips, the way her tongue slipped between them and licked up excess water, before slipping back into her mouth. He felt himself blushing. Once this was all taken care of, he was never going to speak to another woman again.

"Very well." She leaned back in her chair. "I don't suppose you have any cigarettes, do you?"

He shook his head. "I don't smoke. And even if I did I doubt that Lisa and the others would have allowed them into the room."

"A pity. To answer your question," she leaned forward, her arms resting on the table, "I did not harm Matsumoto. Last I saw her she was fine."

"When did you last see her?" He found to difficult to contain his excitement. She was alive. She was well. All he had to do was find her.

"Weeks ago. Maybe up to... I don't know, a month. My part in it was only to take her. I had no part in whatever was done next with her."

That deflated Toshiro's excitement. "Then how do you know that she's alive?"

"Because I doubt that Aizen would risk angering Ichimaru."

Toshiro connected the dots in his head. Yes, he could see that harming Rangiku would risk making Gin turn tail. The man's loyalties were always questionable. Could it possibly be that Aizen took Matsumoto as a means to keep Gin in line? It didn't seem all that unlikely a prospect. But then Gin had ended his relationship with Rangiku and left her broken hearted. Would he care about what happened to her?

"Who else was with you when you kidnapped Rangiku?"

Her head tilted to the side as though she had to think about it. "Starrk," she answered. "Coyote Starrk. He's a marksman, a very good one at that. If Matsumoto was to resist then it was his job to incapacitate her."

"No one else?" Was Starrk the subordinate she had mentioned earlier?

She shook her head.

"What about the blood we found at the apartment? From the police files I know that it's not Rangiku's. A month isn't long enough to heal from a bad wound and I don't see a mark on you." Apart from the bruise that Kensei had inflicted she was physically flawless.

"Starrk's."

"You're lying," Toshiro said, feeling his anger renew. "It wasn't Starrk's at all. I've read the police report and I know it came from a woman. If it wasn't yours then whose was it?"

"One of my subordinates," she answer reluctantly. "There was a scuffle and Matsumoto wounded one with a knife."

Toshiro nodded. He wondered why Harribel had wanted to leave that piece of information out. It didn't seem all that important. "Where is Rangiku now?"

"I told you, I don't know."

"Tell me where she is."

"I don't know."

"I think you're lying!"

She stared at him, her eyes hard and unflinching. "You let your emotions make decision for you. You need to have a clear head to successfully interrogate someone."

He glared back at her. It was difficult to keep his anger in check and he had to remind himself that he had to stay on her good side to get answers out of her. He exhaled, sitting back in his chair.

"Better?" She actually smiled and Toshiro felt as though she was laughing at him. "Good. I am not lying when I say that I don't know where Aizen is keeping Matsumoto. I think that if you want to find her then you should first find Ichimaru."

"Do you know where to find him?"

"He's a snake; therefore I would look under a rock."

Despite the situation, Toshiro found himself smiling. "Would you know which rock to look under?"

"He's rarely in Hueco Mundo," she admitted. "I'm not sure where he lives or even where he usually spends his time. I think though that I can suggest someone who might know where to find him."

"Who?" Toshiro perked up again.

"You're very easy to read," she said. "Has it crossed your mind that I might be telling you nothing but lies, that I might actually be trying to steer you away from Aizen?"

He frowned. "It has, yes. But I don't think that you are," he said honestly. "I think that you're looking for a way out. Perhaps you bit off more than you can chew or Aizen was asking too much, threatening you. I think that you want my help."

"Interesting." She ran her finger around the rim of the plastic cup. Behind her Hisagi coughed gently, clearing his throat, he didn't speak, but Harribel did look over her shoulder at him. She turned back To Toshiro. "Has it ever crossed your mind that not everyone in the Gotei 13 is who they say they are?"

Toshiro straightened up. It had crossed his mind, actually he was almost certain that someone among the Gotei 13 was a spy and was passing on information to Aizen. It was intriguing to hear his theory confirmed. "Yes, but I don't have good enough standing with them to even begin to figure out who. Is this traitor in contact with Gin?"

"Yes," she whispered and he thought that she smiled, her head bowed. "It would be foolish to have them in direct contact with Aizen so this spy is in contact with Ichimaru, or possibly they are in contact with a contact who works for Ichimaru. I'm not sure exactly how deep this all goes or how far it is spread. But you cannot trust everyone within the Gotei 13."

Hisagi grunted. Toshiro looked over to him, confused as to why he was making so much noise. Hisagi just shrugged at him in silent reply. Toshiro looked back to Harribel, but she didn't seem at all bothered by Hisagi. "Tell me who this traitor is."

"Not yet," she replied. "First we should talk of Aizen's plans."

Toshiro wasn't happy with the change of conversation, but if she wanted to divulge Aizen's plans then he wasn't going to stop her. He made a mental note to ask her again about the traitor, perhaps if he just slipped the question into a row of others she wouldn't notice and would answer him.

"The attack on the Thirteenth bar," she started, her finger still running laps around the cup, "did you ever wonder what it was all about?"

"A botched attempt to kidnap Shihouin Yoruichi," Toshiro answered, and then he thought about it, "or a successful attempt to murder Shiba Kaien cleverly hidden as an attempt to kidnap Shihouin." She smiled and he knew that he had it right. "Why would Aizen want Shiba dead?"

"Not just dead – ruined." She actually said it with some relish, like she had enjoyed what had happened to Kaien and his family. "The ones he sent in didn't even know that they were there to kill Shiba. Aizen had it all figured out so precisely that he could factor in all these different people and predict how they would react. They genuinely thought that they were there to take Shihouin."

"So he just hoped that Kaien would die in the crossfire?"

"He knew that Shiba would try to come to Shihouin's aid," she explained. "There was a secondary target that would guarantee that Shiba wouldn't be able to stay out of the fight."

Toshiro frowned, not knowing who she was talking about. "His sister?"

She shook her head once. "Kuchiki Rukia, another princess just waiting to be captured. Shiba would never let something happen to her."

Toshiro still didn't believe that Aizen could possibly have orchestrated something so complex; there were just too many variables. "Say I believe you," he said, "and Aizen did do all this just to kill Kaien. Why? It seems like a lot of effort when he could have just had him shoved under a bus."

"That wouldn't be much of a public spectacle into the failure of the Gotei 13 now would it?" She picked up the plastic cup and looked at the contents. All of her movements seemed to be precise and deliberate, even these seemingly random gestures felt as though they were planned. It was actually quite frightening. "He needed witnesses into the downfall of Shiba. He needed many, high profile witnesses. Nothing spreads a story quite as fast as word of mouth. And nothing generates a story quite as quickly as a scandal."

"You're talking about the leaked medical information now, aren't you?"

"That's what I meant about ruining him. His death wasn't enough; he had to be completely destroyed. It was just unfortunate for Shiba that he had such a horrific illness just waiting to be discovered."

"And of course this reflects badly on the Gotei 13," Toshiro muttered. "I know all this. This was all done to make clients lose faith in the Gotei 13. They let Kaien die and then failed to protect his secrets."

"Not just that. It also caused dissent among the Gotei 13. You know how they handled the fallout of Shiba's demise? They cut all ties with his family, pretended like they'd never had anything to do with him. Right when his remaining family could have used the most support." She sipped the water again; the cup was almost empty now. "Of course not everyone agreed with that. It was poorly handled. They owed Shiba's memory more than that. It seems so simple, but it put some serious cracks in an old foundation. If one such as Shiba, a golden boy who apparently never did anything wrong, could fall from grace then where does that leave the rest of them?"

Toshiro shook his head. "The Gotei 13 has stood too long to be ruined by something so petty."

"If you say so," she bowed her head as though in agreement of his statement.

"Then Aizen doesn't want Shihouin Yoruichi? She was just a distraction from his real motives?"

"Possibly. But she would be a powerful asset." That was an understatement. "Wealthy, influential, if Aizen had her on his side then you can bet that others would come flocking to him. I wouldn't put it past him to take her for his own."

"She's not an object and he can't force her to work for him."

"You _really_ don't understand Aizen at all."

Toshiro thought it unlikely that Aizen could persuade Shihouin to work for him. She was in with the Gotei 13; she knew that he had murdered her friend. There wasn't a chance that she would ever go near Aizen unless it was to exact revenge. He still thought it likely that Aizen would attempt to take her though.

"Tell me about the men who attacked the Thirteenth bar."

"Yammy I believe was taken by the Gotei 13, or handed over by Aizen," she shrugged, "I'm not sure. Aaroniero Arruruerie I have not seen since the attack and have not heard anything from him. If the Gotei 13 does not have him then he is loose somewhere in the city."

"There was a third man," Toshiro said. He wondered if the Gotei 13 really did have these men and if so, why they were keeping it secret.

"Officially Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez has been fired and his whereabouts unknown," She paused, taking another sip of water. "This is not true. He still works for Aizen but is being kept from the public eye. I do not know why."

Toshiro nodded. Aizen would be able to use Grimmjow without raising suspicion among the Gotei 13, it made sense. "And the traitor?"

Her finger tapped against the desktop, causing the remaining water in the cup to ripple. Once more Hisagi grunted, shifting uncomfortably against the wall. Harribel took so long to answer that Toshiro started to suspect that she had made the whole thing up.

"Did you ever wonder how Aizen got hold of Shiba's medical information?"

"Of course I did, everyone did," Toshiro replied. "He must have paid off an orderly or something."

"Ichimaru was the one who delivered the information to Aizen, personally."

"So it was Ichimaru's contact?" Toshiro asked.

"You know who this man is," she said.

"I don't."

"You do," and now she smiled and it left Toshiro feeling cold, "you know exactly who it was. You know who your little traitor is; you're just unwilling to admit it to yourself."

Slowly he put it together in his head; the medical information, the link to Gin... "Oh..." He breathed as realisation hit him. He looked up to Harribel his eyes wide, and she spoke the name before he could.

"Kira Izuru."

"No..." Toshiro gripped the table, feeling the weight of the accusation upon him. The sound of the door being wrenched open startled him and he looked up, just in time to see Hisagi exiting the room. "Hisagi, no!" Toshiro leapt to his feet and ran after him.

Hisagi moved quickly across the room, too fast for Toshiro to catch him. He took in the startled looks of Lisa, Kensei and Love. He didn't see the look of shock on Kira's face as Hisagi planted his fist in his gut. Hisagi hit him again, in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Why?" Hisagi yelled, his fist again connecting with Kira's face. "Why'd you do it?"

"Shuuhei, stop!" Toshiro barged into Hisagi, knocking him away from Kira.

"What the hell's going on?" Kensei demanded. "Why are we beating up the weedy kid?"

"It was him!" Hisagi shouted angrily, pushing Toshiro off of him. "He's the one that's been working with Aizen!"

"No... No..." Kira whimpered, shuffling back from the mixture of shock and anger that was being directed at him. "I never..."

"He's been working for them this whole time!"

Kira looked about him helplessly, trying to find an ally or even a sympathetic look. "I... I..." he looked so lost that Toshiro couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He had to remind himself that this man had betrayed them all and wasn't deserving of his sympathy. Kira's head dropped to his chest. "I took the medical file and gave it to ... I gave it to Gin." He looked up at them desperately. "But that's all, I swear."

"Oh shit..." Kensei looked away. "We brought the enemy into our home. That's just fuckin' great!"

"I didn't know..." Kira whispered. "I didn't know what it was going to be used for. You have to believe me."

"What about Rangiku!" Hisagi screamed his face twisted with rage. "You sold her out too! How could you do that Izuru? She was your friend!"

Kira shook his head. "I didn't. I didn't."

Hisagi made another lunge to go for Kira, but Toshiro fixed his arms about his waist and pulled him down. "Enough Hisagi!" He yelled. "It's not worth it. Just stop."

"This certainly is interesting," Lisa said calmly. "Kensei you deal with this one." She pointed at Kira. "He's got some information that we'll be wanting."

Kensei moved to Kira and reached out for him, and Kira flinched back. "Get up," Kensei said gruffly. He hauled Kira to his feet by his arm. "Nothing's going to happen to you yet." He dragged him off, Kira stumbling to keep up and muttering about how he didn't know.

Toshiro was still gripping Hisagi, scared that if he let him go he would do something they would all regret later. Lisa must have been thinking along the same lines.

"Love, make sure that Hisagi here doesn't do anything stupid."

"Gotcha," Love said. He moved quickly, helping up an unresisting Hisagi and walking him away, his arm around his shoulder. "You can't blame yourself about this. And beating the hell outta the kid won't do any good either..."

Toshiro pushed himself unsteadily to his feet and looked to Lisa. He was shaking. He didn't know what he was supposed to do next.

"You okay?" Lisa asked, looking and sounding genuinely concerned.

"I think so," he replied. He looked back to the open office door. Would Harribel still be in there, or had she used the commotion to escape? He started walking towards the office.

"Did she say anything else?" Lisa asked, walking beside him.

"Lots. We need to find Ichimaru Gin." He sighed. "Kira will know where he is."

"Okay," Lisa said calmly. How the hell could she sound so calm? Did nothing faze her?

Toshiro stepped into the office; Harribel was sitting where he had left her, holding the plastic cup in her hand. She looked at Toshiro and Lisa expectantly. "I hope everything's all right," she said with false sincerity.

"Fine," Toshiro answered, his voice cracking. "Thank you for the information. I'm sorry to say that you'll have to remain in here for the time being. We'll bring you some blankets and other bits to make it more comfortable."

"Of course," she said. She drank the remaining water and placed the empty cup back down on the desk. "It is unfortunate when your friends betray you."

"Yes, it is." Toshiro stepped back and let Lisa close the office door, locking it. His hands were still shaking. What would happen now? What would happen to Kira?

"Its fine," Lisa said quietly. "Go get some rest. You've done enough for one day."

"Right." Toshiro walked in a daze away from Lisa, not really sure where he was heading. It was only just starting to sink in. Kira had betrayed them. Someone that Toshiro trusted and had known for years had used him, had betrayed him. Toshiro felt sick. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know who he could trust.

/\/\/\

Kisuke tapped his bare foot against the wood decking, humming to himself. His fingers worked steadily, rolling a fresh cigarette. Once it was finished he placed it down and started on another. He enjoyed keeping his hands busy; he found it much easier to think when his hands were doing something that didn't involve any thought. It kept his brain free to tackle the big issues. Not to mention that if he left his hand to their own devices they would get him into all sorts of trouble.

It was a particularly nice afternoon, and Kisuke planned on enjoying every second of the good weather. He was sat out in the garden, feeling the sun on his exposed skin. Not that he had much skin exposed; he had a nasty habit of burning in the sun rather than tanning as he would like. He set down another rolled cigarette and then rifled in the tobacco pouch, he was nearly out and probably wouldn't have enough for another. He shrugged and tossed it to the side. He eyed the small piled of perfectly rolled cigarettes and wonder what he was going to do with them all. Smoke them obviously, but there were so many and he didn't actually smoke all that much. Kuukaku would probably take a fair few, but Yoruichi had given up smoking and wouldn't touch any.

"Ah well," he murmured, picking one up. "Guess I'll make a start on them."

"Oi! Kisuke!"

He looked back over his shoulder, cigarette hanging from his lip. Kuukaku was standing in the doorway. She had her arms folded and a slight sneer on her face, but that wasn't anything new. "Yeah?" he called back.

"You got some visitors." Kuukaku disappeared back into the house without another word.

Kisuke watched as two people emerged and he nearly spat out his cigarette in shock. He hadn't expected these two to visit him. Shinji sauntered up, one hand raised in greeting, while Hiyori brought up the rear a very sullen look to her face.

"Hey there, Urahara-San," Shinji greeted. "How are you?"

"I can't complain," Kisuke replied. "How are you both?"

"Oh we're fine," Shinji said with a smile. "Just taking a walk, y'know how it is."

Kisuke looked past Shinji to Hiyori. She couldn't possibly have looked less thrilled to see him. At least she wasn't trying to hit him, which was her usual reaction upon laying eyes on him. He stood up and held his arms wide, grinning like a fool. "Hiyoooooooooooo-riiiiiiii!" He sang happily. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

Her face twisted and she glared at him, nothing but contempt in her eyes. Her leg twitched and for a moment Kisuke thought that her sandal was about to come flying into his face, but nothing happened. She spat and turned from him, crossing her arms tightly across her chest and huffing audibly.

He turned to Shinji. "How about you?"

"I'm not huggin' you," Shinji replied. "I don't know where you've been." He stepped up onto the decking and looked about the garden. "This is a nice place."

"Yes it is," Kisuke said, dropping his arms. "It's Kuukaku's not mine. I own nothing here."

"That's not surprising," Shinji muttered.

Kisuke patted down his pockets, trying to find his lighter. "So then," he said, "what can I do for you both?"

From his pocket Shinji produced a lighter and handed it to Kisuke. "I was just wondering if you know a woman called Tia Harribel."

"Thank you, Shinji-Kun," Kisuke said taking the lighter. He flicked the lid off and lit his cigarette before inspecting the lighter. "A shark fin? That's certainly an interesting design. And to answer your question, I have no idea who Tia Harribel is. Should I? Is she some sort of idol I should be perving over?"

"No." Shinji took the lighter back off of him. "This is her lighter, in case you were wonderin'-"

"I wasn't."

"And I think you're lying."

"I know he's lying!" Hiyori snapped.

"You wound me," Kisuke said. "I have never heard of the woman before."

Shinji didn't look at all convinced, and with good reason too, of course Kisuke was lying, he knew exactly who Tia Harribel is. How could he not? He also knew that Shinji had her held captive. He didn't personally approve, but then it wasn't his business what Shinji did in his personal time.

Hiyori spun on her heel and marched over to him, stomping up onto the decking. "We know your lying!" She raged. She jabbed him in the chest with a finger as she berated him. "You know exactly who Harribel is. We know that you're keeping stuff from us, things we need to know!"

He staggered back, waving away her onslaught. "Okay..." He took the cigarette from his mouth and breathed out a stream of smoke. "Let's just say that I do know who Harribel is, what would that change? What exactly is it that you want?"

Hiyori opened her mouth to say something but Shinji pushed her roughly to the wide. "Honestly woman, don't you have any restraint," he muttered before turning to Kisuke. "You know she's working for Aizen?" Kisuke didn't react. "Right. Well, let's pretend that-"

"You've got her tied up in your underground lair?" Kisuke suggested with wide eyes innocence.

Shinji stared at him. "See this is exactly why no one likes you."

"I like me," Kisuke said not even having to feign his hurt. "But you do right? Have her tied up that is."

"Yeah, I do." Shinji didn't look at all impressed by Kisuke's knowledge. "I don't even want o know how you already knew this. Now that we've got the bullshit outta the way though I guess we can get down to business."

"I can't help you," Kisuke told him. "You already know this."

Shinji ignored him. "How much is she worth?"

Kisuke ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it and making a show of thinking. It was an interesting question and it almost suggested that Shinji thought that he could use Harribel to cut some sort of deal with Aizen. "Shark fin soup," Kisuke answered. "That's how much she's worth."

"I see," Shinji said slowly.

"What the hell?" Hiyori bellowed. "What does that have to do with anything? He's just spoutin' nonsense!"

"Shut up, idiot," Shinji said quietly. He straightened out his tie and look out across the garden. "Yeah, that's about as much as I thought. What would you suggest?"

Kisuke took another drag on his cigarette. "Shark fin soup," he repeated.

Shinji made an aggravated noise. "I don't want to do that."

Kisuke shrugged. "You don't have much choice. You should have let her be."

"I couldn't," He answered. "This one was out of my hands." He sighed dramatically. "This is messy and I can't be bothered to deal with it." He was pouting now. "When did it all get to be so complicated?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Kisuke asked with a smile. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

"Yeah, but I don't think I'd get a straight answer outta ya!" Shinji spun lazily on one foot, his hands in his pocket. His phone rang and he slowly took it from his pocket. "Yeah?"

Kisuke turned from him, still puffing away happily on his cigarette. Hiyori was glaring at him, clearly not happy about being left out of the conversation.

"Huh?" Shinji blurted. "Whaddya mean he got her to talk?"

Kisuke frowned. This was unexpected.

"Whoa... whoa..." Shinji had his hand up and was looking more than a little surprised. "Slow down, Lisa, start again, I'm not following you." His eyes locked on Kisuke's and the he grinned. "Is that right? No kidding..." He laughed. "Thanks Lisa, you're a doll!" he pulled a face suddenly. "No... That's not... I... Okay, I'm sorry... Yes, I am aware that that was a sexist remark and I am very sorry..."

"Interesting news?" Kisuke asked as Shinji flipped his phone shut and put it back in his pocket.

"Shark fin soup, eh?" Shinji grinned at him. "Seems like this is one of those times where you're very wrong."

"Is that so?" Kisuke smiled at him.

"What's going on, Shinji?" Hiyori demanded.

"Oh nothin' much." He jumped down from the decking his hands back in his pockets. He looked back over his shoulder at Kisuke and smiled. "Only that Harribel started talking and it seems that she had a lot of interesting things to say."

Kisuke didn't reply, he took another drag on his cigarette as he watched Shinji. He was an interesting man to observe, so full of bluster and false confidence, so eager to seek approval. That was why he was here after all, not to seek answers but to have Kisuke tell him he was on the right track. It was just a bonus that he apparently got one over on Kisuke. A nice little ego stroke for him. Kisuke smiled. "Was I wearing my hat I would tip it to you," he said with a small flourish. "It would appear that I was wrong. It happens to the best of us."

"Uh huh," Shinji was still grinning. "I think I got all I need to know from you, Urahara-San. C'mon Hiyori, let's get outta this place."

"I thought we were getting answer outta this guy!" Hiyori shouted, but she followed after Shinji, giving him a good kick in the shin when she caught up with him.

Kisuke rubbed at the back of his neck. That had certainly been... interesting. He brought his cigarette back to his mouth and took another drag, balancing it between his lips. Even if Shinji did crave approval it seemed an odd move for him to come all the way here to see him and then leave without asking the obvious questions. Something didn't quite seem right here and Kisuke made a note to look into it. It would have to wait until later; he had other things to occupy him.

"You set them up?"

"Aargh!" Kisuke jumped and spun round, his cigarette dropping from his mouth. Yoruichi was stood behind him, her head cocked to the side quizzically. "Geez, Yoruichi-San, don't sneak up on me like that." He put his hand to his chest and took several deep, calming breaths. His heart rate had increased form the shock and also just from her presence, she was standing far too close to him.

"You did though," she said dispassionately. Her eyes tracked the disappearing figures of Shinji and Hiyori and the she shrugged and turned to Kisuke. Her eyes were flat and hard, the light had gone out from them. "Was Shinji here to check up on me?"

Kisuke made a confused noise, not knowing where she had got that idea from. Until he remembered that he had told her that Shinji was being paid to watch her. It hadn't been a lie so he shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

Her lips twitched. "Liar. He wasn't here about me at all."

"Ah, Yoruichi-San, you're too clever for me."

She was giving him an odd look, like he was a puzzle she was trying to figure out. "Why was he here?"

"He was looking for answers," Kisuke answered honestly. "I gave him some. Or at least I confirmed something he already knows. Though I might have been too late."

"Hmm," she was still giving him that hard stare and he'd be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy it on some level. "What aren't you telling me?"

"A lot of things Yoruichi-San, but then we all have our secrets." He wondered how much of his conversation with Shinji se had overheard. And then even if she had heard it all, what would she make of it?

"I suppose so," she said softly. "What did you men by being too late?"

"I needed him to dispose of something for me."

"Something dangerous?"

"Potentially," he replied. "But it would seem that Shinji has found use for it. Now it's out of my hands and I've just got to wait and see what happens."

"All of your plans seem to hinge on waiting and seeing," she said. She looked down to his pile of rolled cigarettes and she frowned at them as though they offended her. Given that she had recently quit smoking they probably did. "If Shinji's walking into a trap, don't you think that warning him would be the right thing to do?"

Kisuke smiled nervously and laughed a little. "Ah, Yoruichi-San you put me in a difficult position." He rubbed the back of his neck again. "See now it's a question of what exactly is 'right'."

She looked at him a moment and then sighed. "You're a horrible man, Kisuke," she said, though there was no anger or accusation in her words, he actually thought that she might have been smiling. She shook her head and walked past him and stepped off of the decking. "I don't like that you're keeping things from me."

"I know," he said. "But it can't be helped."

"I'll find out what you're up to."

"I don't doubt that for a second." He straightened up, smiling and then followed after her. Part of him wanted to explain it all to her, to let her in on his plan, but he knew that it was in her best interest to keep her out of it all. The problem was that she would react to what was happening immediately with little thought to how it would affect the larger picture. If she knew what he did, then she would no doubt warn Shinji and that was something that he couldn't allow. Certain things, no matter how awful they seemed, had to be allowed to happen. This was unfortunately one of those things.

/\/\/\

She was once again in darkness. Harribel was still sitting at the desk to the small office. She was not tied to the chair and this time they had thankfully not blindfolded her, but she was locked in. She could only see the faint outline of her hands resting on the desk.

She thought back on what had transpired. She was unsure if she had acted in the correct way, whether she had done what Aizen wanted from her. She had given up some seemingly important information, though nothing so important that it risked Aizen's plans. Had this been what he wanted? She thought of her girls and wondered where they were, would they be safe? If she failed then what would Aizen do to them?

She shook her head, it didn't bare thinking about. She had been tempted to take Hitsugaya up on his offer, to actually trust that he could protect her and her girls and then divulge everything that she knew about Aizen. She was certain that she could have shared enough so that the Gotei 13 could take him down. Would she later regret holding out?

She must have drifted off, wrapped up warmly in the blanket that Hitsugaya had brought her. When she opened her eyes there was sliver of light cutting across the room. She frowned and stood up, quietly. Turning she found the door to be unlocked and open a fraction. She moved to it and froze, staying in the shadows. Was this some sort of trick?

"You've done well," said a familiar voice.

"I have?" She asked quietly.

"Aizen-Sama will be pleased." He was standing just outside the office and out of sight. She was tempted to open the door and to find out who he was, but she didn't. He would probably flee if she did. "There is just one more thing to take care of. A small problem."

"What is it?"

"You know what."

She sighed in annoyance. Why did he just keep presuming that she knew what was going on? "I don't," she said. "A little instruction would be helpful." There was no reply. "Hello?" Still nothing and she sighed again. She pushed the door open a fraction more, peering through the gap. There was no sign of her little helper, but there was also no sign of any guards. Hesitantly, she stepped out of the office, squinting at the light. Should she just make her escape? No, Aizen wanted her to do one more thing, but what could it be?

She walked slowly around the room, keeping to the walls and staying alert. She still hadn't ruled out that this was all a setup by her captors. She stopped and checked her surroundings. What the hell was she supposed to do?

And then it hit her and she sagged under the weight of the knowledge. She should have known that it would come to this. She didn't like it, but f it would secure her escape and the safety of her girls then there was no other option. She had passed on valuable information, some of it was meant to be known. Some of it was not.

She turned back and walked quickly towards the vacant office. She frowned at it. She had been alone in there and so that couldn't possibly be where they were keeping him. As far as she could tell it was the only room in this space. If he wasn't there, then where was he? She decided to walk around the edges of the room, it was quite large after all and from here she couldn't see the other side.

"Of course," she breathed once she was part way around. Across from her there was another poorly constructed room. Possibly another office, she didn't know, but it was the only other place that they could hold him. She was quick, darting across the room to it. The walls were also made out of cheap plywood and she thought that she could easily kick it in if she needed to. She didn't, it would make far too much noise. She tried the door and wasn't even surprised when it opened. It would seem that everything except the dark deed had been taken care of for her.

Inside was a small kitchen that had recently been gutted out. Everything that the prisoner could use to potentially harm himself had been taken away. He was sat on the floor with his back to her, his head bowed.

"That you again, Shuuhei?" Kira asked not even looking up. "I already told you... I didn't know..." his voice cracked as he spoke. "If I had known... I wouldn't have... I'm the worst..."

She moved silently towards him, ignoring the sympathy that was stirring inside of her. She had to tell them of his involvement, limited thought it had been. She had to sow the seeds of dissent. Divide and conquer. The problem was that he possibly knew too much. He might actually know where Ichimaru Gin was, and if he told them that then it could spell problems in the future. He was a liability, a loose end that she needed to take care of. And if this was what she needed to do to protect herself and he girls, then so be it.

"Shuuhei..?" He started to turn but it was already too late. She clasped her hand over his mouth and nose and pulled him back into her. He stiffened and fastened her other arm around him, pinning his arms down. He struggled, his screams muffled into her hand. His hands were scrabbling about, trying to get to her. He lurched, pulling her forward but she didn't let go.

"It's okay," she said softly, her lips near his ear. He wrenched from side to side, trying to shake her off. She could feel his desperation. "Shh... Shh..." He was weakening, his attempts of escape growing more feeble. Slowly, she lowered him to the ground. He had stopped screaming, had stopped making any noise. She waited, keeping her hand clamped over his mouth and nose. He had stopped moving. Still she waited, just to be sure. She thought that she could feel his heart still beating but it was only her own, beating erratically against her ribs.

She let out a long breath and moved away from him, leaving him lying on the floor. Her hand was moist and she wiped it against her trousers. He looked young, younger than she'd first thought. She knelt by him and laid her hand against his cheek. She sighed and bowed her head, and then she stood and hurried from the room. She didn't know why there were no guards, but she wasn't going to trust that it would remain like that. She had to escape. She didn't want to be here when they discovered his body.

She hurried across the large room and to what she hoped was the exit. It was a narrow staircase and encased in darkness. She stumbled up them her hand trailing against the wall. It was so dark that she nearly walked into the door. Her hand felt along it for the handle and she yanked it op, nearly falling out.

It was thankfully night, the car park was lit by a couple of streetlamps. She took a couple of breaths of fresh air and then hurried across the car park, not knowing where she was or where she should be going. At the edge of the car park she turned left and started up the street.

"You're a cold woman."

She froze. The voice had come from behind but she didn't need to turn to know who it belonged too. "And you're a very good actor," she replied. She turned and looked to her unlikely rescuer, to the man who had sneaked her orders of Aizen's will. He stood there looking more than a little pleased with himself, his black hair spiky and unkempt, and his small eyes narrowed. One side of his face was scarred and there was a tattoo upon his cheek. "Hisagi," she finished.

He smiled. "Did you guess it was me?"

"It did cross my mind," she admitted. "It would seem that Aizen has some unlikely people in his pocket."

His smile wavered. "It's not for Aizen that I'm doing this," he said. "My mentor, Tousen, I believe in what he has taught me. The Gotei 13 are corrupt and have lost their way. Something needs to be done about this." He looked away. "Kira was... unfortunate."

"Of course," she said. She could believe that he regretted what had happened, but believed it to be a necessary evil. "What now?"

"I have a car this way." He turned and gestured for her to follow him. "Aizen-Sama will be pleased with what you have done."

She bowed her head and followed him into the night.

* * *

**A slightly different take on Hisagi. I was bored of Kira and Momo being the ones that were colossal fuck ups and Aizen supporters in disguise. This is much more fun!**

**And yeah, I guess I lied about getting **_**Winning isn't Everything**_** up next, I had a sudden burst of inspiration with this and churned it out pretty quickly. **

**Please leave a review on your way out and I hope you enjoyed your stay.**

**Oh, and you'll all be very pleased to know that next chapter we go back to YoruSoi.  
**


End file.
